THE 
JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

OF 

AMERICAN   OPINION 


BY 

MONTAVILLE  FLOWERS,  M.A. 


NEW   YORK 
GEORGE   H.    DORAN   COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,   1917, 
BY  GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


PRINTED   IN   THE   UNITED   STATES  OF  AMERICA 


DEDICATED 

TO 

THE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  OF  OUR 

HIGH   SCHOOLS 

THE  YOUNG  MEN  AND  WOMEN  OF  OUR 
COLLEGES 

UPON   WHOSE   AMERICAN   SPIRIT  AND   WHOSE    KNOWLEDGE 

OF  THE   GREAT   WORLD   PROBLEMS   OF  OUR  TIME 

DEPENDS   THE   PRESERVATION  OF  THE 

PRECIOUS  INHERITANCE  OF 
THE  FOUNDERS  AND  BUILDERS 

OF 
THE  REPUBLIC 


3C1240 


PREFACE 

"PEACE  hath  her  victories  no  less  renown'd  than  war." 

The  weapon  with  which  those  victories  are  won  in 
America  is  Public  Opinion. 

Japan  is  now  trying  to  secure  possession  of  that 
weapon. 

The  victories  she  would  win  with  it  are  the  removal  of 
restrictions  on  immigration;  the  rights  of  naturalisation, 
American  citizenship,  and  of  intermarriage  with  the  white 
race ;  the  overthrow  of  all  anti-Asiatic  land  legislation  in 
western  states;  the  rapid  acquisition  of  those  lands;  and 
all  that  follows. 

Shall  the  people  of  the  United  States  vote  to  give  the 
Japanese  these  rights?  That  is  the  question  which  this 
nation  is  being  forced  to  decide.  That  is  the  problem  this 
generation  must  solve. 

On  the  affirmative  of  this  question  are  the  Japanese  in 
America  and  all  of  Japan,  a  self-assertive  people  of  tre 
mendous  energy  driven  by  a  fatalistic  faith  and  a  con 
sciousness  of  racial  superiority;  assisted  by  large  numbers 
of  prominent  Americans  ecstatically  visualising  America 
as  the  Utopia  of  Universal  Brotherhood ;  followed  by  an 
array  of  our  countrymen,  swept  on  by  faith  in  the  authors 
of  this  beautiful  dream;  all  organised,  active,  powerful, 
using  vast  institutions  especially  adapted  to  spread  and 
vitalise  their  propaganda. 

On  the  other  side  is  an  opposition  so  unorganised,  so 
mild,  so  impalpable  that  it  seems  not  to  exist  at  all,  and 
gives  evidence  of  its  presence  only  by  a  subconscious 
uneasiness,  warning  the  people  that  somewhere  beneath 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 


all  this  pro- Japanese  campaign  something  is  concealed 
that  is  wrong.  During  the  three  years  in  which  I  have 
been  delivering  addresses  upon  this  problem,  hundreds  of 
Americans  have  said,  "I  have  always  felt  that  there  are 
two  sides  to  this  problem,  but  I've  seen  only  the  Japanese 
propaganda.  Where  does  this  road  end?  Where  can  I 
get  in  full  the  story  of  the  Pacific  Coast  and  the  American 
view  so  that  I  may  reform  my  opinion  and  take  a  position 
upon  it  ?" 

To  contribute  to  this  need  I  shall  begin  at  the  beginning 
and  tell  the  story  of  the  Japanese  Conquest  of  American 
Opinion  so  far  as  it  has  proceeded.  'Truly  the  discussion 
from  the  Japanese  standpoint  has  been  voluminous 
enough  by  both  the  Japanese  and  their  American  sup 
porters.  The  volumes  by  Sidney  L.  Gulick,  adroit,  wholly 
pro- Japanese,  highly  indorsed,  widely  distributed;  books 
and  articles  by  Kawakami  and  lyenaga,  of  surpassing 
finesse,  typical  products  of  the  Oriental  mind;  "The 
Japanese  Problem,"  by  H.  A.  Millis,  prepared  to  order  as 
a  brief  for  the  pro- Japanese  campaign ;  "Japan  to  Amer 
ica"  and  "America  to  Japan,"  two  volumes  by  the  Japan 
Society  of  New  York,  with  its  founders  decorated  by  the 
Mikado ;  the  ceaseless  labour  and  wide  scattering  of  propa 
ganda  by  that  Society;  the  continuous  output  of  the  Jap 
anese  Press  Bureaus  and  their  agents  established  in  our 
country;  the  regular  contributions  by  Hamilton  Wright 
Mabie,  Hamilton  Holt,  and  their  confreres  in  their  weekly 
magazines  and  their  addresses;  the  unmeasured  power  of 
money  and  influence  of  great  peace  societies  and  the  Fed 
eral  Council  of  Churches  spreading  farther  still  these 
books  and  pamphlets,  and  publishing  thousands  more ;  the 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  sermons  made  upon  the 
requests  of  these  agencies,  interpreting  a  dream  world  of 
hopes  into  arguments  for  fatal  experiments ;  all  these  have 
challenged  those  Americans  to  speak  who  are  not  bound 


PREFACE  ix 


by  self-interest,  or  moved  by  a  metaphysical  conception  of 
an  ideal  state  that  never  had  and  never  can  have  a  trans 
lation  into  fact. 

Signed, 

MONTAVILLE  FLOWERS. 

Monrovia,  California. 
September  i,  1916. 


CONTENTS 

PART  I.    THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 
CHAPTER  I.  THE  GENESIS  AND  SCOPE  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

PAGE 

A  world  problem — Subjects  involved  in  its  discussion — Its  Genesis 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  where  Occident  meets  Orient — Forces  that 
set  races  to  moving — California  the  picket  line — The  point  at 
issue  in  the  question 3 

CHAPTER  II.   RELATION  OF  JAPAN  TO  THE  PROBLEM 

The  coming  of  the  Japanese:  Sudden  rise  of  Japanese  immigra 
tion — The  status  of  Japanese  in  the  United  States — Sovereign 
Rights  of  nations  regarding  immigration  and  citizenship — Its 
exercise  in  Canada — Declaration  of  American  Institute  of 
International  Law — Supreme  Court  decision — California's  Con 
stitution — The  meaning  of  Japan's  aggression 6 

CHAPTER  III.  THE  FIRST  CONFLICT 

The  sudden  development  of  Japan — Her  first  issue  with  America 
— The  School  question:  Astonishing  attitude  of  Japanese — 
Statements  by  both  sides — Japan  appeals  to  Washington — 
The  Gentleman's  Agreement  of  1907  a  great  moral  victory 
for  Japan — Japan  learns  two  things  about  America — The  Jap 
anese  and  contract — Individual  and  national  characters — 
Picture-brides — The  second  conflict  begins  to  develop — Buying 
land — Character  of  that  land — Who  are  the  people  of  Cal 
ifornia? — The  most  intelligent  American  state — The  second 
conflict  approaches 1 1 

CHAPTER  IV.  THE  SECOND  CONFLICT 

President  Woodrow  Wilson  against  Asiatic  Immigration — The 
Democratic  Platform  in  1912— The  personnel  of  the  California 
Legislature  elected  in  1912 — The  Japanese  get  ready — The 
conflict  develops — The  coming  of  Secretary  Bryan — The  anti- 
alien  land  law  is  passed 23 

CHAPTER  V.   WHERE  Two  RACES  MEET 

What  is  in  the  land  law? — Aliens  ineligible  to  citizenship — The 
text  of  the  controversy — The  law  just,  fair,  and  within  the 
rights  of  the  state — No  discrimination  against  Japanese — 
Why  call  this  a  Japanese  problem? 29 

xi 


xii  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  VI.   OCCIDENT  OR  ORIENT 

PAGE 

Japan's  objections  to  the  law — No  treaty  violated — Treaty  making 
powers  of  the  United  States  versus  Lawmaking  powers  of  the 
States — Authorities  cited — No  land^  rights  in  treaty  of  1911 — 
Liberties  exchanged — The  Oriental  interpretation  of  contract — 
Review  of  Japanese  diplomacy  in  official  documents — Land 
rights  not  exchanged,  why? — Wide  interpretation  of  words 
"to  own" — Japan's  trickery  in  citing  precedents — Brazil — 
Mexico — Russia 34 

CHAPTER  VII.  "LET  Us  ARBITRATE" 

A  lever  placed  under  our  sovereignty — Development  of  pro- 
Japanese  sentiment  favouring  Japan — Fetish  of  fair  play — 
Japan  everything  to  gain,  nothing  to  lose — Lack  of  alien  code 
— What  shall  we  arbitrate? — The  significance  of  the  land  right 
— Arbitrating  sovereignty — Japan  proclaims  a  new  principle 
— Various  quotations  of  it — Japan  demands  great  changes  in 
our  fundamental  law — The  sentimental  American  response — 
How  Japan  violates  her  own  principle — Offer  of  United  States 
to  try  case  in  Courts — To  buy  all  Japanese  land — The  end 
of  negotiations — Two  nations  deadlocked 42 

CHAPTER  VIII.   THE  GOAL  AND  THE  WAY  TO  IT 

Japan  announces  her  goal — It  is  American  citizenship — All  social 
rights — Removing  impediments  to  land  ownership — The  lines 
of  least  resistance — Americans  localized — Indifferent  and  igno 
rant  as  to  the  problem — Sentimentalism — The  roads  toward 
the  conquest  of  American  opinion — American  sentiments  played 
upon — Phases  used — Arguments  catalogued — Making  a  Jap 
anese  tradition  in  America 52 


PART  II.  FORCES  AND  METHODS  OF  THE 
JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

CHAPTER  IX.  MALIGNING  A  STATE 

A  campaign  of  vituperation — Epithets  and  charges  made — Mr. 
Gulick's  charges  of  falsehoods — Discredit  put  on  Americans 
opposing  Japanese  aggression — Arraignment  of  California  by 
Hamilton  Holt — By  Hamilton  Wright  Mabie — Threats  of  war 
— Attack  on  California  by  Kasai — Epithets — "demagogues," 
"jingoes,"  "criminals" — A  California  woman  against  her  state — 
Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler  contradicts  these — Kawakami,  the  volu 
minous — Oriental  methods  of  argument — Dr.  E.  A.  Steiner's 
grave  charges  against  Calif ornians — The  charges  disproved — 
Serious  assault  by  a  Rabbi — The  Peace  Sunday  movement — 
Accusing  the  Southerner  in  California — Virginia  and  the  Amer 
ican  ideal — A  truer  estimate 59 


CONTENTS  xiii 


CHAPTER  X.  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH 

PAGE 

One  hundred  thousand  ministers  drafted  into  the  campaign — 
Sidney  L.  Gulick — and  his  "New  Oriental  Policy" — The  present 
Oriental  policy  "disgraceful" — What  changes  the  policy  will 
require — Intermarriage  of  races? — Alleged  good  results  of  his 
policy — The  Federal  Council  of  Churches  of  Christ — Its  rela 
tion  to  the  Japanese  movement — Its  adoption  of  the  Gulick  Plan 
— Great  promotion  and  publicity — A  Japanese  Commission  in 
the  Church — Its  partisan  composition  and  position — It  orders 
a  book — Cross  influences  supporting  this  campaign 78 

CHAPTER  XI.  THE  APPEAL  TO  FACTS 

The  Federal  Council  engages  Mr.  Millis — Review  of  his  work — 
Facts  and  opinions — Securing  "opinions" — The  book  a  surprise 
— Encysted  Japanese  committees — Underbidding  white  men — 
Living  and  labour  of  Japanese  in  California — Kind  of  land  they 
use — No  new  industries — No  new  wealth  to  state — Realty 
values  decreased — 'Land  legislation  popular  with  state — A 
competing  force — Japanese  labor  not  needed  or  wanted — 
Japanese  held  in  disrepute — Anti- Japanese  sentiment  held  by 
best  people — Opposition  to  intermarriage  universal — Civilisa 
tions  not  to  be  harmonised — Japanese  white  children — A  ver 
dict  against  California — Verdict  analysed  explaining  serious 
weaknesses — Chinese  versus  Japanese — When  Eastern  people 
move  to  California  they  change  opinion — Attitudes  of  China 
and  Japan  to  America  compared 89 

CHAPTER  XII.  THE  APPEAL  TO  SOCIAL  INFLUENCE 

The  Japan  Society  of  New  York  and  its  allies — Rich  support 
and  membership — Purpose  of  the  Society — A  one-sided  exhibit 
— Its  system  of  propaganda — Writing  pro- Japanese  books — 
Public  opinion  not  represented  fully — Ostensible  "dinners" — 
Its  sister  Society  in  Japan — Distribution  of  books,  etc.;  free 
pro- Japanese  books  for  pur  boys  and  girls — Personal  campaign 
by  travel  and  solicitation — Japan  Society,  a  Confederate  of 
Japanese  Press  Bureaus — "Subscribe  for  the  News  Bulletin"! 
— Quotations  from  editorials — What  is  Japan's  "American" 
problem? — Vivid  correspondence  with  Hamilton  Holt — A 
menace 106 

CHAPTER  XIII.   THE  APPEAL  TO  AMERICAN  SENTIMENT 

Japanese  press  agents  and  press  bureaus — The  Japanese-American 
associations — Who  is  Kawakami? — The  "East  and  West"  press 
bureau — Who  pays  the  bills? — Defending  Japan  against  China 
—The  truth  by  Samuel  G.  Ely  the— The  "Pacific  Press  Bureau" 
— Its  methods — Assimilating  America — Team  play — Pro- Jap 
anese  against  American  preparedness — "Mr.  Blythe's  illusions" 
— Other  Japanese  publicists — Japanese  students  and  free  speech 
in  our  colleges — Japanese  professors  teaching  American  youth 
"Immigration" — Typical  illustration  of  play  on  emotional 
sentiment 119 


xiv  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XIV.  THE  APPEAL  TO  PEACE 

PACK 

Relation  of  Peace  Movement  to  the  Japanese  Conquest — The 
cause  of  peace — War  and  civilisation — War  and  progress — 
Long  history  of  the  Peace  Movement — The  first  American  Peace 
Society — Its  present  work — The  three  essential  facts  of  the 
Peace  Societies — Coordination — A  political  movement — The 
factors  of  a  trust — Mr.  Carnegie  and  Peace — His  master-pas 
sion,  reunion  of  Britain  and  America — Practical  work  to  that 
end — Panama  Tolls — Relation  of  Elihu  Root  to  peace  and 
Panama — The  Tolls  repealed — Subsidising  Lyceum  and  Chau- 
tauqua — Educating  public  sentiment  for  Japan — England  and 
Japan  and  Carnegie  Peace  Societies — Mistaken  enthusiasts — 
David  Starr  Jordan's  great  prophecy  against  ^  war — Baron 
d'Estournelle's  prophecy  reversed — Hopeful  but  mistaken  men.  136 

CHAPTER  XV.  THE  APPEAL  TO  RELIGION 

PART   I 

The  Foundation  text — The  "Unchristian"  argument — Institu 
tional  thinking — Drawing  around  Japan  the  "holy  circle  of  /the 
Church" — Universal  Brotherhood  as  interpreted  by  Japan — 
The  trick  of  quoting  Scripture — Shylock — Richard  III — The 
School  Peace  League,  and  the  "one  blood"  text — False  inter 
pretations  and  dangerous  application — The  Pulpit  interpreta 
tion  of  "one  blood" — Extent  of  sentimentalism  in  the  Pulpit 
— Steiner's  view  of  "applied  Christianity" — Answering  the 
"one  blood"  argument — Origin  of  nations 158 

PART  II 

Christianity — Religion — Morals  and  Government  of  Japan — 
The  missionary  attitude — Japanese  versus  Chinese  missionaries 
— A  famous  telegram — Dr.  Teusler's  assaults — Value  of  mis 
sionaries  to  Japan's  Conquest — A  natural  attitude — Christian 
ity  weak  in  Japan — The  Japanese  Year  Book  statement — The 
first  chance  and  the  second — Statistics  on  slow  growth  of  Chris 
tianity  in  Japan — Development  of  native  cults  rapid — Mistaken 
ideas  of  Japanese  government — The  real  religion  of  Japan — 
Showing  the  innocent  flower — The  Emperor  is  God — The 
morality  of  Japan — Loyalty  and  its  application — Prostitution, 
polygamy,  concubinage — Dr.  Myers  in  "History  as  Past 
Ethics" — Sir  Edwin  Arnold — Patriotism  a  religion — Modifying 
our  Christianity — A  pagan  Emperor's  ceremonials — Religion 
not  a  solution — Economic  bases — The  everlasting  conflict 165 

PART  III.  BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 

CHAPTER  XVI.  A  JAPANESE  FIVE  PER  CENT.!    WHAT? 

Mr.  Gulick's  recent  tour  for  approval — The  cornerstone  of  his 
policy — Alleged  happy  results — Why  received  favourably — A  de- 


CONTENTS  xv 


PAGE 

ception  and  a  subterfuge — Figuring  it  out — Increase  of  yellow 
and  brown  races — Steady  increase  in  Japanese  birthrate — 
Figuring  on  Hawaii — Coming  to  the  mainland — Figuring  other 
Asiatics  also — The  total  results  on  ten  per  cent,  basis — "Pigs 
is  pigs" — Restrictive  tests — on  immigration — On  naturalisa 
tion — Mr.  Gulick's  additional  "provisos" — Why  Five  Per  Cent.? 
— Chances  of  ten  per  cent,  or  higher — Where  does  the  negro 
come  in  the  Japanese  problem? — The  year  2040 185 

CHAPTER  XVII.  THE  GREAT  AMERICAN  ILLUSION 

The  melting-pot — Development  of  this  illusion — Colonial  stocks 
— Ideals  and  impulses  of  early  America — The  "Guardian  of  the 
World"  idea — Development,  changing  conditions — The  fires  in 
the  crucible — Growth  toward  race  mixture — The  arrival  by  the 
religious  road — The  stumbling  block  of  missionaries  in  Japan 
— The  "Asiatic  blood  in  the  melting  pot" 200 

CHAPTER  XVIII.  THE  DEAD  SOUL  IN  THE  POT 

Nationality  and  race  mixture — What  is  a  nation? — Race  mixture 
a  fundamental  cause  of  war — Proving  the  Japanese  assimilable 
— Mr.  Gulick's  fallacies  in  "Social  Assimilation" — Faulty  in 
stances  cited — "Adopting"  Asiatic  babies — Burbank  developing 
a  new  variety — The  one  hundred  thousand  bad  results  destroyed 
— An  architectural  plan  with  an  open  door — Proving  the  Jap 
anese  white — Old  Aryan  migrations — The  Japanese  are  Mon 
golians — Confusing  "nation"  and  "race" — Misquoting  Pres 
ident  Eliot,  of  Harvard — His  four  conclusions  on  race  mixture 
— "Saving  Japan's  face" — The  constitution  of  races — Gustav 
Le  Bon — Dr.  Robert  Tuttle  Morris  on  race  mixture — Encysting 
foreign  races  in  American — Some  conclusions — The  dissolution 
of  races 209 

CHAPTER  XIX.  FACTS  PERTINENT  TO  OPINION 

A  ^chapter  of  answers — Are  the  Japanese  decreasing  in  numbers 
in  the  United  States? — Japanese  birth  rate  trebles  in  five  years 
— Japanese  prefer  the  United  States — Excluding  Asiatics  while 
admitting  Southern  Europeans — Results  of  immigration  from 
Southern  and  Eastern  Europe — Can  Americans  own  land  in 
Japan? — Is  Japan  poor? — Finances  and  war — Pacifists  and 
financial  prophecies — Report  of  Secretary  of  Commerce — 
Thomas  F.  Millard's  statement — Financial  ability  of  Japan — 
What  is  the  meaning  of  the  last  diplomatic  flurry? — Objection 
to  the  Burnett  bill — Dissimilar  acts  of  Courts 225 

CHAPTER  XX.   THE  SOLUTION  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

The  danger  in  public  opinion — The  forks  of  the  road — Four  great 
questions — What  must  Americans  do  with  this  campaign — 
California's  task? — A  new  land  law — The  wisdom  of  California's 
course — Fundamental  principle  of  immigration — Traitors  to 


xvi  CONTENTS 


PAGE 

the  state — The  answer  of  the  United  States  to  Japan — Remedy 
worse  than  the  disease — Solution  by  time — Not  a  question  of 
race — Question  beyond  dollars  and  cents — "Business  Interests" 
defined — What  immigration  has  done — America  cannot  con 
tain  all  the  world — Special  pleaders  of  all  nations  and  races — 
Another  fundamental  principle — A  higher  mission  for  America 
— A  greater  service  for  alien  nationals — Our  position  on  Asiatic 
naturalisation — Citizenship  denied  on  many  grounds — Diffi 
culties — A  people  unwelcome — A  step  that  cannot  be  retraced 
— Unpractised  in  Democracy — Qualifications  for  citizenship — 
Fatalism,  vs  Christianity — Race  mixture  and  the  white  race 
— Japan's  course  will  not  prevent  war — Patriotism  versus 
Internationalism — Dr.  Nicholas  Murray  Butler — Senator  Bev- 
eridge — Norman  Angell — The  latest  international  action — Pre 
serving  our  racial  souls — "Don't  shoot" 242 


PART  I 
THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 

"The  Greatest  Problem  of  the  age  and  of  ages  to  come  is 
that  resulting  from  contact  between  East  and  West." — From 
Asia  at  the  Door,  by  K.  K.  Kawakami.1 


lAsia  at  the  Door — a  book  pleading  for  Japanese  immigration 
and  citizenship  and  the  privilege  of  intermarriage  with  the  white 
race  in  the  United  States,  by  K.  K.  Kawakami,  of  San  Francisco, 
head  of  one  of  the  Japanese  Press  Bureaus. 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  GENESIS  AND  SCOPE  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

THE  Japanese  question  is  not  local.  It  is  not  merely  a 
California  problem  or  a  Pacific  Coast  problem.  It  is 
national  and  vital  to  all  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
it  is  universal  wherever  white  men  dwell  and  Japanese 
ships  may  anchor.  Why  has  opposition  to  the  advances 
of  Japanese  in  the  last  few  years  expressed  itself  in  State 
Constitutions  and  State  laws  by  overwhelming  majorities 
in  the  most  progressive  States?  Why  in  the  far  more 
restrictive  measures  of  the  growing  countries,  Australia, 
Canada,  New  Zealand?  What  answer  shall  the  United 
States  give  to  the  insistent  knocking  of  Asia  at  the  door? 
What  will  ensue  if  we  open  the  door,  and  what  may  if 
we  do  not? 

To  answer  these  questions  we  must  review  the  history 
of  the  Japanese  controversies  in  the  United  States;  we 
must  compare  this  Japanese  migration  with  like  move 
ments  of  the  peoples  of  the  past;  we  must  study  racial 
intermingling  and  race  mixture;  we  shall  require  aid  of 
the  sciences  of  heredity,  biology,  ethnology,  sociology  and 
economics ;  we  shall  be  obliged  to  interpret  anew  the  per 
sistent  laws  of  human  nature  and  the  souls  of  races.  The 
solution  of  this  problem  cannot  end  in  mere  transcendental 
theory — but  it  must  be  found  in  action  pregnant  with 
destiny ;  for  the  answer  will  determine  the  future  charac 
ter  of  our  people;  the  form  and  substance  of  our  civilisa 
tion;  the  length  of  our  national  life.  Let  us  set  ourselves 
to  the  problem  which  finds  its  genesis  in  the  State  of 
California. 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


We  are  accostomed  to  speak  of  the  Japanese  Problem 
as  "The  Japanese  Problem  in  California"  because,  of  the 
95,000  Japanese  in  the  United  States,  65,000  live  in  Cali 
fornia.  This  is  because  this  State  is  the  first  land  the 
Oriental  touches  as  he  brings  in  the  tide  of  emigration 
from  Asia ;  it  is  here  that  climatic  conditions,  products  and 
industries  resemble  those  of  his  own  country,  and  it  is 
here  that  a  Japanese  commission,  recently  sent  to 
America,  reported  that  a  Japanese  can  make  twice  as  much 
money  as  in  any  other  state  in  the  world. 

These  three  reasons — geographical,  climatic,  and  eco 
nomic — are  the  great  forces  that  have  always  set  nations 
and  races  to  moving. 

The  word  "California,"  then,  is  a  mere  accident  con 
nected  with  that  tract  of  land  and  those  conditions  where 
Occident  and  Orient  were  destined  to  meet  under  the  great 
movements  of  the  twentieth  century.1  It  is  the  picket 
line  of  the  American  continent  flung  out  against  the  arriv 
ing  hosts  from  Asia  which  formerly  directed  their  courses 
westward  across  the  land  and  many  times  overswept 
Europe,  but  which  now,  under  changed  conditions,  have 
turned  in  the  opposite  direction. 

In  the  spring  of  1913  this  peaceful  and  hospitable  state 
suddenly  became  the  target  for  epithets  from  the  people 

JThe  ultimate  point  in  dispute  does  not  affect  the  United  States 
alone,  still  less  the  State  of  California.  It  is  essentially  a  world 
Problem.  That  Japan's  claim  should  first  have  become  an  acute  cause 
of  trouble  in  California  is  due  to  the  accident  of  propinquity.  Cali 
fornia  is  now  the  frontier  line  of  white  races  beyond  which  are  the 
teeming  populations  of  Asia.  No  useful  purpose  will  be  served  by 
blind  condemnation  of  the  tendencies  of  public  opinion  in  Western 
States.  They  spring  not  so  much  from  race  hatred  as  from  the 
instinct  of  self-preservation,  and  even  if  the  present  minor  dispute 
is  disposed  of,  they  will  assuredly  recur.  It  is  an  issue  that  will  be 
come  more  and  more  insistent  whatever  may  be  settled  now,  and  it 
will  have  to  receive  the  earnest  attention  of  all  white  races  in  time 
to  come. — Editor  of  The  Times,  London,  England. 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 


and  the  press  of  her  sister  states.  Editors,  ministers, 
reporters,  the  street  corner  disputant,  began  an  assault 
upon  her  which,  though  slightly  softened  now,  has  left  so 
deep  an  impression,  and  has  developed  so  high  an  inertia 
that  the  campaign  of  which  she  is  the  innocent  battle 
ground,  is  still  ascendant.  The  picket  had  done  his  duty, 
that  was  all,  and  the  inevitable  conflict  of  interests  between 
Occident  and  Orient  again  was  on. 

The  point  at  issue  in  the  Japanese  problem  was  then, 
and,  as  it  lies  before  the  governments  of  the  two  nations, 
is  now:  Shall  the  Japanese,  who  are  not  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  cannot  become  citizens,  shall  they  have 
the  right  to  own  agricultural  land1  in  the  State  of  Cali 
fornia  and  hence  in  any  American  state  ?  While  the  word 
"agricultural"  does  not  appear  on  the  face  of  the  dispute, 
except  in  two  or  three  state  papers,  it  was  that  kind  of 
land  that  was  in  dispute,  and  it  is  the  farmers,  who  still 
form  fifty-two  per  cent,  of  all  the  American  people  and  a 
great  per  cent,  of  Western  people,  who  required  the  State 
to  act. 

I  hope  now  to  set  in  simple  array  the  facts  bearing 
upon  this  problem,  to  interpret  the  position  which  the 
people  of  Western  States  have  taken  upon  it,  to  trace  the 
experiences  and  the  mental  processes  by  which  they 
arrived  at  that  position,  to  indicate  the  surging  forces 
back  of  it  all,  and  above  all  to  show  every  American  State 
and  every  American  citizen  the  vital  relation  which  he 
bears  to  the  present  status  of  this  problem. 

1  In  his  first  reply  to  the  protest  of  Japan  our  Secretary  of  State, 
W.  J.  Bryan,  said,  "I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  receipt  of 
your  note  of  May  Qth,  with  regard  to  the  law  just  adopted  by  the 
State  of  California  concerning  the  holding  of  agricultural  lands  by 
aliens  ...  It  is  based  upon  the  particular  economic  conditions 
existing  in  California  as  interpreted  by  her  own  people  who  wish 
to  avoid  certain  conditions  of  competition  in  their  agricultural 
activities." 


CHAPTER  II 
RELATION  OF  JAPAN  TO  THE  PROBLEM 

THE  first  Japanese  to  come  into  the  United  States  were 
a  band  of  forty  who  came  into  California  in  1869,  a  full 
half  generation  after  Commodore  Perry  had  opened  the 
doors  of  the  exclusive  land.  For  nearly  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  before  that  no  foreign  ship  was  allowed  to 
anchor  in  Japanese  harbours,  nor  foreign  foot  to  touch  her 
shores  except  on  one  little  island  near  Nagasaki  where 
Dutch  traders  were  allowed  to  come  and  hasten  away  once 
a  year. 

Thus  the  Japanese  were  slow  to  leave  their  own  land 
and  come  into  ours;  for,  nine  years  later,  in  1878,  there 
were  here  but  one  hundred  and  twenty;  ten  years  later, 
in  1888,  there  were  about  one  thousand;  ten  years  later, 
in  1898,  there  were  thirteen  thousand;  eight  years  later, 
in  1906,  their  number  had  suddenly  risen  to  seventy-five 
thousand  on  the  continent  and  about  eighty  thousand  in 
the  Hawaii  Islands.  And  we  then  discovered  that  we  had 
in  the  United  States  a  Japanese  Problem. 

In  every  discussion  of  this  Problem  you  must,  first  of 
all,  bear  in  your  mind  that  the  Japanese  are  and  always 
have  been  aliens  who  cannot  become  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  They  have  been  given  rights  of  residence  and 
trade,  but  never  the  right  to  vote,  and  so  they  cannot  par 
ticipate  in  our  government.  This  status  of  theirs,  which 
they  now  seek  to  remove,  was  long  since  fixed,  without 
any  demur  from  Japan,  by  the  naturalisation  laws  and  the 
Court  decisions  of  the  United  States. 

"It  is  among  the  most  essential  powers  of  the  sover- 

6 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 7 

eignty  of  nations,  that  each  may  fix  the  terms  and  con 
ditions  of  citizenship,  and  that  right  has  never  been  in 
dispute  among  nations.  Nor  is  it  necessary  for  any  nation 
to  explain  to  all  the  others  why  it  makes  those  conditions 
as  they  are. 

"It  is  the  attribute  of  sovereignty  of  any  nation  to 
exclude  from  its  borders  any  citizen  or  citizens  of  any 
other  nation  in  the  world.  It  has  the  right  to  admit  the 
citizens  of  a  friendly  nation,  and  to  deny  admission  to  the 
citizens  of  an  unfriendly  nation.  It  has  the  right  to  decide 
for  itself  whether  it  is  for  the  best  interests  of  its  people 
to  admit  a  certain  race  of  people  or  not. 

"The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  decided 
in  numerous  cases  that  it  is  the  inherent  sovereign  right 
of  any  nation  to  exclude  from  its  borders  any  race  of 
people  that  cannot  be  assimilated;  to  make  such  discrim 
inations  as  it  sees  fit  and  proper;  and  that  no  immigrant 
from  such  foreign  nation  has  any  right  to  complain,  be 
cause  the  laws  of  the  country  require  them  to  be  trans 
ported  whence  they  came. 

"Members  of  Congress  certainly  will  not  disagree  with 
me  in  the  conclusion  that  we  should  in  our  sovereign 
capacity  as  a  people  permit  the  people  of  the  states  to  de 
termine  who  their  friends  and  associates  shall  be."  * 

A  striking  instance  of  the  exercise  of  this  right  to  pre 
serve  material  interests  is  furnished  by  the  Government  of 
Canada  in  a  very  recent  order  restraining  immigration  as 
follows :  "His  Royal  Highness,  the  Governor  General 
.  .  .  in  view  of  the  present  overcrowded  condition  of 
the  labour  market  in  the  Province  of  British  Columbia,  is 
pleased  to  order  and  it  is  hereby  ordered  as  follows : 
From  and  after  the  first  day  of  October,  1915,  and  until 
after  the  thirty-first  day  of  March,  1916,  the  landing  at 
any  port  of  entry  in  British  Columbia  hereinafter  specified 
-  Congressman  Sisson  in  House  of  Representatives,  April  28,  1913. 


8 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

of  any  immigrant  of  any  of  the  following  classes  or  occu 
pations — viz. :  Artisans ;  Labourers,  skilled  and  unskilled, 
shall  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  prohibited."  And  forty- 
four  ports  of  entry  are  named.  This  order  shows  abso 
lute  power  to  discriminate  against  a  certain  class  in  cer 
tain  territory  for  a  specific  time.  No  nation  has  com 
plained  against  it. 

The  last  and  highest  authority  to  be  heard  on  this  prin 
ciple  is  the  American  Institute  of  International  Law, 
which  convened  in  Washington  in  January,  1916.  It  is 
Pan-American,  representing  the  twenty-one  republics  of 
the  western  hemisphere.  Each  republic  sends  from  its 
own  National  Society  of  International  Law  five  of  its 
most  eminent  legal  authorities,  and  the  one  hundred  and 
five  men  thus  selected  represent  the  highest  legal  thought 
of  all  the  Americas.  The  United  States  was  represented 
by  five  men,  including  the  Acting  Secretary  of  State,  and 
two  ex-Secretaries  of  State.1 

The  American  Institute  of  International  Law,  after 
careful  conferences  of  many  weeks,  made  a  "Declaration 
of  the  Rights  of  Nations." 

Five  great  fundamental  rights  were  proclaimed.  The 
first  is,  "Every  nation  has  a  right  to  exist  and  to  protect 
and  conserve  its  existence."  The  Institute  adopted  that 
as  the  cornerstone  of  International  Law,  and  to  interpret 
it  they  adopted  the  following  clear  and  forceful  language 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  from  its  deci 
sion  on  the  Chinese  Exclusion  Act : 

"To  preserve  its  independence,  and  give  security  against 
foreign  aggression  and  encroachment,  is  the  highest  duty 
of  every  nation,  and  to  attain  these  ends  nearly  all  other 

"The  representatives  of  the  United  States  were  Robert  Lansing, 
Elihu  Root,  Robert  Bacon,  Leo  S.  Rowe  and  James  Brown  Scott. 
Elihu  Root  is  Honorary  President  and  James  Brown  Scott  is  Presi 
dent  of  the  body. 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 


considerations  are  to  be  subordinated.  It  matters  not  in 
what  form  such  aggression  and  encroachment  come, 
whether  from  the  foreign  nation  acting  in  its  national 
character  or  from  vast  hordes  of  its  people  crowding  in 
upon  us.  The  government,  possessing  the  powers  which 
are  to  be  exercised  for  protection  and  security,  is  clothed 
with  authority  to  determine  the  occasion  on  which  the 
powers  shall  be  called  forth." 

California  has  acted  fully  within  that  principle.  She 
is  assailed  for  passing  the  law  of  1913  because  "there 
were  no  vast  hordes  of  Asiatics  coming  to  her  shores;" 
but  she  was  equally  assailed  for  her  action  in  1906  when 
there  were  such  hordes  coming.  Such  criticism  is  a  mere 
subterfuge  to  hide  the  main  purpose  of  the  critic. 

The  United  States,  therefore,  without  being  held  to 
the  charge  of  discrimination,  without  being  required  to 
make  any  explanation  to  anyone,  had  full  rights  to  exclude 
Asiatics  from  citizenship,  and  from  the  very  beginning  of 
our  history  had  done  so.  The  people  of  California,  when 
they  acted  upon  that  fact,  had  no  more  to  do  with  estab 
lishing  it  than  had  the  other  forty-seven  commonwealths 
of  the  nation.1 

In  the  second  place  you  must  bear  in  mind  that,  taking 
this  cue  from  the  nation,  California  was  acting  on  an  old 
and  established  policy.  Very  early  in  her  history,  with 
the  far  vision  of  a  prophet,  she  made  it  a  fundamental 
principle  of  the  State  government  forever  to  discourage 
all  aliens  who  could  never  become  American  citizens  from 
entering  her  borders ;  when  she  revised  her  Constitution  a 

'Judge  H.  A.  M.  Smith,  of  the  Federal  Court,  Eastern  District  of 
South  Carolina,  says,  "The  grant  of  the  privilege  of  citizenship  is 
purely  discretionary  with  the  people  of  the  country,  it  is  entirely 
distinct  from  admitting  to  entry  and  residence.  It  carries  with  it 
great  powers  of  good  and  evil  in  the  exercise  of  the  ballot,  and  the 
great  responsibility  of  the  ballot  box.  It  is  no  humiliation  for  an 
alien  to  be  excluded  from  a  privilege  not  a  right." 


10 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

generation  ago,  she  laid  down  one  of  the  greatest  prin 
ciples  ever  put  into  a  governmental  document  when  she 
wrote  into  her  charter  these  remarkable  words:  "The 
presence  of  foreigners  who  may  not  become  citizens  of 
the  United  States  is  dangerous  to  the  well-being  of  the 
State,  and  the  legislature  shall  discourage  the  immigration 
of  all  such  aliens  by  all  means  within  its  powers."  This 
is  only  a  clear  statement  of  old  English  Law  and  Custom. 

Every  Japanese  now  in  California  has  come  in  while 
that  provision  has  been  in  her  Constitution.  Japan  has 
always  known  it  to  be  there,  and  her  present  agitation  is 
the  conscious  and  direct  attempt  of  a  foreign  nation  to 
overthrow  the  fundamental  laws  of  American  states  (for 
other  states  have  similar  provisions  in  their  laws),  and 
to  force  in  America  a  new  interpretation  of  the  relation 
of  the  nation  to  the  states.  Japan  wishes  either  to 
impeach  the  sovereignty  of  our  Government  or  radically 
to  change  the  relative  powers  established  by  the  Constitu 
tion  between  the  nation  and  the  states. 

When  these  Japanese  first  arrived  upon  our  shores,  they 
were  as  peaceable  and  as  amicable  as  any  immigrant,  and 
their  home  government  in  Japan  readily  accepted  the 
treatment  America  accorded  them.  But  as  they  increased 
in  numbers,  and  especially  as  their  country  rose  in  the 
rank  of  nations,  their  attitude  became  insistent — almost 
commanding.  In  this  change  of  front  they  were  backed 
up  by  their  Emperor  with  a  diplomacy  surprisingly  ag 
gressive  and  decisive. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  FIRST  CONFLICT,  1906 

THE  SCHOOL  QUESTION  ;  A  MORAL  VICTORY  FOR  JAPAN 

OUR  first  sharp  conflict  with  Japan  came  in  1906.  Now 
in  1906  Japan's  status  had  not  been  changed  in  America, 
but  in  1906  Japan  had  completed  a  wonderful  series  of 
world  aggressions.  Within  eleven  years,  1894-1905,  she 
had  found  cause  for  a  war  with  China,1  and  by  sudden 
attack  had  completely  defeated  that  astonished  and  unpre 
pared  country.  She  had  at  last  realized  her  national 
ambition  of  adding  the  great  Island  of  Formosa  to  her 
kingdom,  extending  it  far  to  the  south.  She  had  at  last 
entrenched  herself  upon  the  mainland  of  the  continent  of 
Asia.  She  had  gradually  assumed  control  of  Korea,  and 
she  had  just  whipped  Russia !  It  was  then,  when  Japan, 
swollen  with  pride,  and  conscious  of  the  power  of  con 
quest,  announced  herself  as  a  World  Empire,  that  the 
Japanese  in  the  United  States,  although  not  citizens, 
began  to  demand  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  citizens; 
and  it  was  then  that  we  discovered  we  have  in  the  United 
States  an  acute  Japanese  Problem. 

The  issue  upon  which  Japan  threw  down  the  gauntlet 
to  American  self-government  was  in  regard  to  the  use  of 

*At  the  International  Peace  Congress  held  in  San  Francisco  on 
October  II,  1915,  Dr.  Ng.  Poon  Chew,  a  Chinese  educator  and  editor, 
told  the  Congress:  "Japan  is  the  disturber  of  the  peace  of  the 
Orient.  She  is  essentially  a  military  nation  and  she  has  in  her 
self  the  perfect  combination  of  the  militarism  of  Germany  and 
the  navyism  of  England.  Her  ambition  is  boundless." 

11 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


the  public  schools.  The  Japanese  were  beginning  to  use 
the  public  schools  of  the  State.  In  San  Francisco  espe 
cially  there  were  a  number  of  Japanese  boys  who  were 
thought  to  be  beyond  school  age  ;  it  is  difficult  to  tell  the 
age  of  a  Japanese  boy  or  man,  and  we  had  learned  from 
experience  that  we  could  not  take  their  word  for  'it.  The 
parents  of  white  children  —  especially  of  girls  in  the 
adolescent  period  —  began  to  feel  that  these  men  should 
be  excluded  from  the  public  schools  altogether,  just  as 
we  do  our  own  men  beyond  school  age;  and  thereafter, 
to  end  all  discussion  of  age  and  of  the  school  problem, 
that  we  should  educate  all  young  Japanese  at  public 
expense,  but  in  separate  schools.  The  Japanese  at  once 
resented  this  as  racial  discrimination.  They  asserted 
boldly  that  their  children  must  have  every  privilege 
possessed  by  any  child  upon  American  soil,  and  any 
attempt  upon  our  part  to  segregate  them  would  be  consid 
ered  an  insult  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
to  the  national  honour  of  the  Empire  of  Japan  ! 

No  one  will  understand  the  Japanese  problem  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  now  until  he  knows  and  feels  the  surprising 
attitude  and  spirit  of  the  Japanese  at  that  time.  Some 
idea  of  this  spirit  may  be  had  from  the  following  Japanese 
expressions  of  hate  and  challenge  to  fight.  It  was  a  shock 
and  a  surprise  to  the  people  of  the  State  for  the  Japanese 
at  once  to  cry  out,  "Let  us  fight."  The  following  extracts 
are  taken  from  the  official  report  on  the  school  trouble 
submitted  to  Congress  by  Secretary  of  War  Met  calf. 
November  26,  1906. 


"OUR    NATIONAL  DIGNITY   ASSAILED.      TO   ARMS,    MY 
COUNTRYMEN  ! 

"Patriotism  demands  the  maintenance  of  our  dignity 
pure  and  unassailed.    And  every  loyal  Japanese  must  arm 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  13 

himself  presently  with  the  weapon  of  righteousness,1  in 
order  to  repel  the  assaults  of  the  defamers. 

"The  question  is  no  longer  confined  to  a  handful  of 
school  children ;  it  has  assumed  international  proportions. 
We  doubt  not  for  a  moment  that  every  resident  Japanese, 
backed  by  the  sympathetic  outburst  at  home,  will  partici 
pate  in  the  struggle  with  that  vigour  and  tenacity  which 
have  won  for  us  the  heights  of  Nashan  and  the  impreg 
nable  redoubts  of  2o8-Meter  Hill." — The  Japanese 
American,  San  Francisco,  October  25,  1906. 


The  following  pertains  to  one  of  the  general  mass  meet 
ings  of  Japanese  that  were  held  in  San  Francisco : 


"What  manner  of  meeting  is  this?  It  is  the  ebullition  of 
70,000  dauntless  heroes  that  hail  from  the  blessed  land 
of  Yamato,  burning  with  the  fire  of  indignation,  and 
clamouring  for  instant  retaliation." — From  The  New 
World,  October  25,  1906. 


It  is  just  as  important  to  present  the  positions  of  the 
American  press  at  the  same  time.  The  difference  in 
temper  is  noteworthy. 


"NO  DISCRIMINATION. 


"There  is  no  discrimination.  The  segregation  of 
Japanese  students  in  one  school  is  a  police  regulation  due 
to  the  fact  that  they  are  not  children  in  the  true  sense. 
As  a  rule  they  range  in  years  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five. 
It  is  not  fit  that  they  should  be  permitted  to  associate  with 
children  of  average  school  age,  and  it  will  not  be  per 
mitted." — San  Francisco  Call,  November  13,  1906. 

evidently  refers  to  the  double  swords  of  the  Samurai. 


14       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

I  ask  a  careful  reading  of  the  following  as  an  explana 
tion  of  the  action  taken  at  that  time : 

"OUR   JAPANESE   COLONY HAWAII   ALREADY  DOMINATED 

BY  AN  ASIATIC  CIVILISATION 

"Out  of  154,000  inhabitants  found  in  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  in  1900  but  28,819  were  Caucasians.  There  were 
86,728  Asiatics,  of  whom  61,111  were  Japanese.  The 
remainder  were  of  the  perishing  island  races.  Of  the 
male  population  over  18  years  of  age,  63,444  were  Asi 
atics,  out  of  a  total  of  85,136,  and  of  these,  43»753  were 
Japanese.  From  1900  to  1905  the  arrivals  of  aliens  in 
the  islands  were  48,086  Asiatics  and  1,726  of  all  other 
nationalities.  Of  the  Asiatics,  38,029  were  Japanese. 
The  departures  of  Asiatics,  however,  during  that  period 
exceeded  the  arrivals  by  4,421,  and  the  departures  of 
Japanese  exceeded  the  arrivals  by  4,284.  Of  the  42,313 
Japanese  who  left  Hawaii  between  June  30,  1900,  and 
December  31,  1905,  an  unknown  number — larger  than 
20,641 — came  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  For  all  practical  pur 
poses  Hawaii  is  to-day  a  Japanese  colony. 

"What  we  are  fighting  for  on  this  Coast  is  that  Cali 
fornia  and  Oregon  and  Washington  shall  not  become 
what  the  Territory  of  Hawaii  now  is.  If  the  Japanese  are 
permitted  to  come  here  freely  nothing  can  prevent  that 
except  revolution  and  massacre,  which  would  be  certain. 
No  words  can  describe  the  intensity  of  hatred  with  which 
the  white  mechanics  and  small  merchants  of  Hawaii 
regard  the  Japanese,  who  have  taken  their  work  from 
them  by  doing  it  at  prices  for  which  they  cannot  do  it 
except  by  accepting  the  Japanese  standard  of  life.  Our 
workingmen  hate  the  Japanese  because  they  fear  they  will 
supplant  them.  The  Hawaiian  workingmen  hate  them 
bcause  they  have  already  been  supplanted.  Being  but  a 
small  minority  of  the  population  the  whites  of  Hawaii 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 15 

cannot  help  themselves.  The  white  men  of  the  Pacific 
Coast  are  determined  that  the  Orientals  shall  never  be 
enabled  to  do  here  that  which  they  have  already  accom 
plished  in  Hawaii.  It  will  be  prevented  by  whatever 
measures  are  found  necessary. 

"What  we  are  now  endeavouring  to  do  is  to  prevent  it 
by  such  wise  action  on  the  part  of  our  own  and  the 
Japanese  Government  as  shall  keep  the  races  apart.  Just 
now  our  race  feeling  has  shown  itself  in  the  provision 
that  the  children  of  the  races  shall  be  kept  separate  in  the 
schools.  It  is  said  that  the  Japanese  will  contest  it  in  the 
courts,  and,  if  defeated  there,  will  make  it  an  international 
question!  We  trust  they  will  not  do  so.  It  would  be 
found  that  there  is  no  power  on  earth  which  could  compel 
the  people  of  this  State  to  tax  themselves  against  their 
will  to  educate  aliens  whom  we  do  not  want  here  at  all. 
To  attempt  to  enforce  the  coeducation  of  the  races  in  the 
face  of  the  determined  opposition  of  those  who  pay  the 
bills  would  be  inhuman,  for  it  would  result  in  scenes  which 
we  trust  we  may  never  witness.  The  example  of  Hawaii 
should  be  sufficient  to  assure  the  early  passage  of  an 
exclusion  act." — The  San  Francisco  Chronicle,  November 
n,  1906. 

But  the  Japanese  Emperor  did  not  hesitate  at  once  to 
back  up  with  sharp  and  threatening  vigour  the  demands  of 
his  subjects  in  our  land.  He  instructed  his  Ambassador 
at  Washington  to  thwart  the  people  of  California  by  an 
appeal  to  the  national  government. 

The  appeal  was  made.  The  nation  was  alarmed. 
Japan  had  a  navy  fresh  from  victory  and  two  millions  of 
soldiers  who  had  just  laid  Russia  in  the  dust.  The  foolish 
partisanship  shown  Japan  by  Americans  during  that  war 
was  active  still.  The  essayists  of  the  eastern  states  had 
their  day.  California,  although  acting  upon  a  matter 


16       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

entirely  within  her  own  jurisdiction  and  entirely  out  of 
the  national  jurisdiction,  yielded  to  the  representations 
from  Washington  with  a  spirit  of  sweet  obedience  to  the 
claims  of  national  welfare.  After  the  most  difficult  and 
delicate  diplomacy,  delicate,  mark  you,  for  in  no  detail 
must  Japan's  feelings  be  hurt,  an  international  agreement 
was  reached  upon  the  question. 

This  agreement  set  forth  that  Japan  would  be  allowed 
her  whole  contention  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  public 
schools  of  California  (and,  of  course  it  follows,  of  every 
state  of  the  Union)  ;  and,  in  return  for  this  surrender  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  Japan  agreed  to  limit  the 
number  of  her  labourers  to  whom  thereafter  she  would 
give  passports  to  leave  home  and  come  to  the  United 
States. 

This  agreement  is  now  known  as  the  Gentleman's 
Agreement  of  1907. 

This  settlement  of  the  first  conflict  with  the  Japanese 
Government  was  a  great  moral  victory  for  Japan.  She 
had  learned  two  things.  First,  that  she  could  stop  and 
overturn  the  people  of  one  state  by  an  appeal  to  the  United 
States.  She  learned  better  than  we  ourselves  have  learned 
that  this  country  is  vast  and  not  homogeneous;  that  the 
masses  of  the  East  are  strangely  ignorant  of  the  West 
and  supercilious  in  their  opinion  of  it;  that  a  small  sec 
tion  in  and  east  of  the  Alleghenies  and  north  of  Virginia 
contains  that  density  and  leadership  of  our  population 
which  determine  vital  foreign  policies;  that  it  is  a  finan 
cial  area — soft,  easily  alarmed  and  fearful  of  disturbance; 
that  withal  a  foreign  nation  may  more  easily  carry  any 
point,  if  this  or  any  other  ponderous  section  can  be  con 
vinced  that  its  material  interests  are  being  jeopardized  by 
another  section ;  and  that  although  the  national  Constitu 
tion  grants  the  states  apparent  latitude  in  all  matters  of 
schools,  marriage,  land  and  inheritance,  nevertheless,  the 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 17 

National  Government,  when  once  it  rules  on  any  of  these 
questions,  enforces  its  rulings  upon  the  state  with  an 
insistence  not  a  whit  less  than  that  of  the  most  despotic 
power.  j 

And  secondly,  Japan  learned  that  the  United  States  ft 
would  submit  to  international  settlement  an  internal  prob 
lem  wholly  within  the  province  of  America  alone  to  43 
decide. 

You  will  see  how  quickly  she  made  use  of  these  two  H 
great  advances  in  her  diplomacy  at  the  very  next  oppor-  ^ 
tunity. 

Much  fine  scorn  has  been  expressed  by  the  Japanese  • 
and  their  American  supporters  against  those  who  claim' 
that  the  Japanese  are  weak  in  the  faithful  execution  of 
contract.  Sidney  L.  Gulick  and  Kawakami  use  many 
pages  of  their  respective  books  to  bury  that  charge  in 
ridicule,  and  then  many  more  in  an  attempt  to  disguise 
and  explain  the  fact  away.  But  among  those  who  know 
them  the  feeling  is  deep  and  universal  that  the  sense  of 
honour  which  holds  the  ^rp-^^n  tr>  *"*  bargain,  win  or 
lose,  is  not  perceived  by  the  Japanese  mind  as  we  havte 
come  in  contact  with  it  in  this  country.  Recent  expe-V< 
riences  in  great  international  struggles  have  fully  justified  ^5 
that  conclusion. 

If  his  bargain  develops  in  his  favour,  he  wishes  to  keep 
it  and  of  course  he  expects  you  to  keep  it,  and  he  comes 
to  you  with  that  splendid  smile  which  always  captures  the 
uninitiated,  and  says, — "Sure,  American  man  will  not 
break  his  word  with  Japanese."  But  if  his  contract 
proves  a  loss  to  him,  he  does  not  want  to  continue  it;  he 
sees  no  reason  in  the  world  why  anyone  should  be  held  to 
a  losing  contract,  and  with  the  same  smile  he  says  to  you, 
— "Sure,  American  Christian  man  will  not  make  Japanese 
lose  just  so  American  man  get  too  much,"  and  so  he 
breaks  his  bargain  in  absolute  conscience  with  himself. 


18 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Treaties  are  but  contracts  between  nations,  and  national 
character,  like  a  composite  photograph  wherein  a  hundred 
faces  are  impressed  in  one  face,  is  but  a  composite  of  the 
individual  characters  that  compose  it.  This  facility  of 
the  individual  to  use  or  misuse  a  contract  to  advantage  is 
exercised  when  Japan  interprets  her  international  bar 
gains,  as  has  been  so  boldly  demonstrated  in  her  rape  of 
China  since  the  World  War  began. 

So,  also,  is  it  exercised  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
"Gentleman's  Agreement."  Remember,  it  applies  only  to 
labourers.  All  students,  merchants,  teachers,  and  profes 
sional  men  were  not  to  be  denied  passports,  nor  have  they 
been,  and  the  statements  to  the  contrary  have  no  basis  in 
fact.  But  Japan  agreed  to  deny  passports  to  all  labourers 
except  to  three  classes  and  to  these  she  would  grant  them 
as  follows : 

1.  To  any  labourer  who  had  once  been  in  America  and 
wished  to  return. 

2.  To  the  parents,  wives,  and  children  of  labourers  in 
America. 

3.  To  any  labourer  who  had  secured  title  to  land  in 
America  and  wished  to  go  to  possess  it. 

Now  that  second  provision  is  not  only  broad  and  hu 
mane,  such  as  we  expect  of  unsuspecting  America,  but  it 
is  absolutely  clean  cut.  No  one  but  the  keen  Oriental 
would  have  made,  in  so  simple  a  provision,  a  way  to 
greatly  increase  their  number  in  this  country,  or  to  make 
out  of  full-blooded  Japanese,  ineligible  to  citizenship,  full 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  But  the  Japanese  have  no 
difficulty  whatever  in  construing  that  provision  to  that 
end.  How  do  they  do  it  ? 

The  Japanese  who  had  come  to  the  United  States  prior 
to  1907  were  nearly  all  young  and  unmarried  men.  But 
they  have  found  a  way  to  have  wives  in  Japan  even 
though  they  had  left  none  there  when  they  left  Japan. 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 19 

The  Japanese  has  his  photograph  made.  He  sends  this  to 
his  friends  or  parents  in  Japan.  These  friends  secure  a 
Japanese  woman  who  will  marry  the  man  in  the  picture 
and  come  to  the  United  States.  The  Japanese  forms  of 
the  marriage  ceremony  between  the  bride  and  the  picture 
seem  thus  duly  discharged.  Then  the  man  in  the  picture 
has  a  wife  in  Japan  and  she  secures  a  passport  under  the 
second  clause  of  the  "Gentleman's  Agreement!"  This 
looks  like  comedy.  This  also  looks  like  humanity,  "for 
who,"  says  Gulick,  "would  have  these  Japanese  in 
America  live  singly  all  their  lives  ?"  It  did  not  occur  to 
him  that  it  is  a  rank  violation  of  the  spirit  and  intent  of 
the  treaty,  for  in  this  way  the  Japanese  in  California  are 
rapidly  increasing  their  number.  The  boat  that  brought 
seventeen  girls  into  the  land  to  go  to  Europe  as  Red  Cross 
nurses,  who  received  so  much  Eastern  acclaim,  also 
brought  seventy  picture  brides  who  remained  in  Cali 
fornia,  with  no  acclaim.  Thus  they  can  double  their 
number  and  in  a  few  years  the  children  of  these  prolific 
young  marriages  will  double  it  again,  and  quadruple  it. 
And  those  children  born  on  American  soil  are  by  our 
Court  decisions  full-privileged  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  And  at  the  same  time  these  children,  as  well  as 
their  parents,  are  citizens  of  Japan,  subject  to  her 
Emperor. 

Since  this  was  written  a  "Nationality  Option  Bill"  has 
been  passed  by  the  Japanese  Lower  Chamber  and  has  been 
approved  by  the  House  of  Peers.  It  will  not  be  operative 
until  promulgated  by  Imperial  Decree.  As  in  the  case  of 
the  land  law  of  1910  granting  to  aliens  the  rights  to  own  land 
in  Japan  that  decree  may  never  be  issued  and  the  law  as 
passed  will  remain  merely  a  good  intention. 

Heretofore  Japanese  have  sometimes  claimed  that  their 
national  law  permitted  them  to  expatriate  themselves;  but 
that  law  was  rendered  inoperative  by  the  requirement  that 


20       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

every  Japanese,  even  though  he  should  be  naturalised  by 
another  nation,  if  he  had  not  already  served  his  term  in  the 
Japanese  army,  was  subject  to  the  call  of  Japan  and  he 
was  obliged  to  respond  no  matter  in  what  country  he  hap 
pened  to  be.  Thus  Japan  has  in  no  way  released  its  legal 
hold  on  male  Japanese  living  in  foreign  lands.  This  new 
law  apparently  retains  that  power. 

But  Japan  also  has  claimed  that  all  children  born  of 
Japanese  anywhere  in  the  world  were  as  much  subject  to  her 
as  if  they  had  been  born  in  Japan.  The  new  law,  if  it  is 
made  effective  by  Imperial  Decree,  will  give  such  foreign- 
born  Japanese  children  the  right  to  declare  at  the  age  of  fif 
teen  whether  they  wish  to  remain  Japanese  or  become 
citizens  of  the  land  they  live  in,  and  the  Minister  of  State 
for  Home  Affairs  for  Japan  can  grant  or  withhold  that  right. 
The  press  of  Japan  affirms  that  this  act  is  an  outgrowth  of 
the  land  legislation  of  California  and  in  part  overcomes  the 
impediments  to  Japanese  set  up  by  that  law. 

The  Japanese  government,  therefore,  and  its  subjects 
in  California  saw  in  the  Gentleman's  Agreement  of  1907 
no  serious  impediment  in  the  long  campaign  they  had 
already  laid  clown.  They  had  set  up  a  goal  at  the  end  of 
that  campaign.  They  did  not  announce  to  America  then 
what  that  goal  was,  but  to  the  goal  they  made  steady 
advance.  They  could  wait  and  wait  again.  All  they 
needed  to  do  was  to  take  a  new  tack,  and  they  took  it. 

That  tack  expressed  itself  in  the  acquisition  of  agricul 
tural  land  by  deed  and  lease.  Five  years  after  the  Gentle 
man's  Agreement  was  made  the  farmers  of  California  dis 
covered  that  in  those  five  years  the  number  of  deeds  the 
Japanese  had  registered  had  increased  nearly  fifty  per 
cent.,  the  number  of  leases  nearly  ninety  per  cent.,  the  total 
acreage  used  by  them  nearly  sixty-six  and  two-thirds  per 
cent.,  and  it  was  the  choicest  acreage  of  the  state. 

The  statements  that  all  this  land  had  lain  waste  and 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 


was  redeemed  and  developed  by  the  Japanese,  if  true, 
would  not  alter  the  contention  at  all;  but  they  are  false. 
In  the  main  this  land  is  in  the  fully  populated  areas  and 
has  long  been  under  cultivation.  The  statements  of  the 
comparative  area  the  Japanese  hold  in  relation  to  all  the 
acreage  of  this  vast  state,  which  is  always  the  first  mate 
rial  argument  of  the  theorist,  are  all  foolish  and  mislead 
ing  in  view  of  the  vast  areas  of  mountains,  deserts  and 
boulder  wastes,  which  embrace  a  large  part  of  the  State, 
and  make  its  tillable  acreage,  and  especially  the  kind  the 
Japanese  are  most  eager  to  control,  very  small  in  propor 
tion  to  the  size  of  the  State.  Both  of  these  arguments  are 
superficial  and  wholly  ignore  both  the  facts  and  the  pro 
found  principles  which  are  at  issue. 

Resistance  to  this  aggression  upon  their  lands  began  to 
fill  the  minds  of  the  farmers  of  California;  and  who  are 
the  farmers  of  California?  They  are  American  citizens 
who  have  come  into  that  State  out  of  every  northern  and 
out  of  every  southern  state.  We  have  90,000  people  who 
were  born  on  the  soil  of  Illinois;  80,000  born  in  New 
York;  68,000  born  in  Missouri;  67,000  born  in  New 
England;  66,000  born  in  Ohio;  55,000  born  in  Iowa; 
51,000  born  in  Pennsylvania;  41,000  born  in  Indiana; 
35,000  born  in  Kansas;  35,000  born  in  Michigan;  30,000 
born  in  Massachusetts;  30,000  born  in  Wisconsin;  20,- 
ooo  born  in  Texas;  20,000  born  in  Kentucky,  and  so  on 
until  all  American  states  are  there.  There  is  no  county 
where  fewer  than  twenty  states  are  represented;  in  some 
counties  all  the  states  are  largely  represented.  These  are 
the  free  and  independent  spirits  of  these  states,  hearts 
brave  enough  to  venture,  minds  open  to  see  and  think. 
The  West  is  the  virile  East,  —  men  like  Columbus  and 
Drake,  like  Humboldt  and  Gordon,  like  Washington  and 
Houston,  surveying,  subduing  a  new  land,  that  the  fear 
ful  may  follow  at  ease. 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


And  the  group  of  Pacific  Coast  states  is  the  most  intel 
ligent  group  of  states  in  the  Union.  The  United  States 
Census  shows  that  the  rate  of  illiteracy  for  the  whole 
nation  is  7.7  per  cent.  ;  of  the  Middle  Atlantic  States  (New 
•York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  etc.)  it  is  5.7  per  cent; 
of  New  England,  5.3  per  cent.  ;  of  the  Pacific  Coast  group 
it  is  only  3  per  cent.,  the  lowest  of  all  and  only  40  per  cent. 
of  the  average  illiteracy  of  the  Nation. 

Of  the  native  white  population,  alone,  the  illiteracy  for 
the  United  States  is  3.7  per  cent.  ;  for  the  Pacific  Coast  it 
is  only  four  tenths  of  i  per  cent.,  which  is  but  one-ninth 
of  that  of  the  United  States  and  but  one-half  that  of  New 
York  or  New  England. 

In  this  Pacific  group,  California  as  a  State,  taken  on 
every  count  exhibited  by  the  United  States  census,  is 
shown  to  have  the  highest  intelligence  of  any  state  in  the 
Union. 

In  our  representative  capacity,  therefore,  in  our  ability 
to  voice  American  sentiment  and  to  try  an  American 
cause,  we  are  the  most  competent  jury  in  any  American 
state,  and  nowhere  else  since  the  world  began  has  the 
white  race  from  all  lands  assembled  in  equal  number  so 
intelligent,  so  varied,  so  liberal  a  group. 

In  the  spring  of  1912  these  people  perceived  the  ulti 
mate  end  of  this  silent  steady  aggression  upon  their  lands  ; 
they  saw  the  principles  at  stake  and  they  determined  to 
meet  this  new  problem  and  to  meet  it  with  a  little  more 
decision  than  they  had  shown  in  the  school  question.  And 
that  is  the  Second  Conflict  with  Japan. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  SECOND  CONFLICT,  1913 

WHO  SHALL  OWN  THE  PACIFIC  COAST? 

WHEN  Woodrow  Wilson,  President  of  the  United 
States,  came  into  California  to  campaign  for  his  nomina 
tion,  he  found  the  people  more  interested  in  passing  a  law 
to  prevent  the  further  purchase  of  land  by  Asiatics  than  in 
the  nomination  of  a  President.  It  was  necessary  for  him 
to  declare  himself  in  principle  on  that  subject  and  the 
declaration  he  then  made  secured  him  more  votes  from 
the  other  parties  than  all  other  influences  combined.  For 
on  May  3,  1912,  he  declared  in  California,  "In  the  matter 
of  Chinese  and  Japanese  coolie  immigration,  I  stand  for 
the  national  policy  of  exclusion.  The  whole  question  is 
one  of  assimilation  of  diverse  races.  We  can  not  make  a 
homogeneous  population  of  a  people  who  do  not  blend 
with  the  Caucasian  race.  Their  lower  standard  of  living 
as  labourers  will  crowd  out  the  white  agriculturist  and  is  in 
other  fields  a  most  serious  industrial  menace.  The  success 
of  free  democratic  institutions  demands  of  our  people 
education,  intelligence,  and  patriotism,  and  the  State 
should  protect  them  against  unjust  and  impossible  com 
petition. 

"Remunerative  labour  is  the  basis  of  contentment. 
Democracy  rests  on  the  equality  of  the  citizen.  Oriental 
coolieism  will  give  us  another  race  problem  to  solve  and 
surely  we  have  had  our  lesson." 

Surely  that  was  clear. 

The  Democratic  State  platform  then  followed  with  this 
plank,  "We  demand  immediate  Federal  legislation  for  the 

23 


24       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

exclusion  of  Japanese,  Korean  and  Hindoo  labourers," 
and  pledged  their  candidates  to  the  enactment  of  a  bill  that 
would  prevent  any  alien  not  eligible  to  American  citizen 
ship  from  owning  land  in  the  State  of  California. 

One  hundred  thousand  cards  were  distributed  over  the 
State  that  fall  bearing  these  two  ringing  declarations  of 
the  President  and  his  party.  Many  candidates  for  the 
legislature,  of  every  party,  declared  themselves  on  that  law 
and  their  campaigns  were  made  upon  it. 

The  legislature  elected  has  been  the  subject  of  so  much 
abuse,  it  has  been  called  prejudiced,  ignorant,  and  barba 
rian  so  often  that  we  must  study  it  a  moment  before 
reviewing  its  action.  I  secured  the  official  Blue  Books  of 
all  the  states  that  have  them  and  I  have  studied  the  per 
sonnel  of  their  legislatures  for  comparison.  None  pre 
sents  a  personnel  surpassing  and,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  few 
equalling  that  of  California. 

Of  eighty  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in 
the  state,  forty  were  natives  of  California,  and  forty 
came  from  sixteen  other  states  and  two  foreign  coun 
tries  ;  Illinois  furnished  seven,  Missouri  six,  Pennsylvania 
four,  New  York  three,  Iowa  three,  etc.,  Ireland  two. 
Canada  one.  Sixty-two  of  them,  or  over  seventy-five 
per  cent.,  had  a  high  school  education;  fifty  of  them,  or 
sixty-two  and  a  half  per  cent.,  had  a  college  education 
(thirty- four  had  college  degrees)  ;  representing  attendance 
at  thirty-three  different  colleges  in  the  United  States  and 
abroad,  so  far  as  I  was  able  to  ascertain.  Twenty-five  of 
them  were  lawyers;  the  others  represented  thirteen  other 
vocations,  farmers,  merchants,  bankers,  etc.,  and  they 
had  averaged  four  and  a  half  years  each  of  service  in 
public  office. 

Of  forty  senators,  twenty  were  natives  of  California 
and  twenty  came  from  six  other  states  and  two  foreign 
countries.  New  York  furnished  five;  Illinois,  three; 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  25 

Iowa,  three ;  Missouri,  three ;  etc.  England,  two  and  Can 
ada  two.  Twenty-eight  of  them  or  seventy  per  cent,  had  a 
high  school  education,  twenty-four  or  sixty  per  cent,  had 
a  college  education  representing  attendance  at  fifteen  dif 
ferent  colleges  in  the  United  States  and  abroad  as  far  as 
recorded.  Sixteen  of  them  were  lawyers  and  eleven  other 
vocations  were  represented.  They  had  averaged  nine  and 
a  half  years  each  of  service  in  public  office. 

Such  was  the  personnel  of  the  legislature  which  met  to 
consider  the  great  problem  of  Asia  and  to  pass  a  new 
land  law. 

This  discussion  through  the  long  Presidential  cam 
paign  of  1912  gave  the  Japanese  ample  warning  and 
ample  time  to  prepare  their  campaign  against  the  enact 
ment  of  such  a  law  and  it  did  not  surprise  us  who  know 
them  to  find  them  ready  for  a  nation-wide  campaign 
against  us  the  moment  the  bill  was  introduced.  Their 
own  government  was  ready  and  all  the  literary  guns  they 
could  array  in  eastern  states  were  unlimbered  with  cais 
sons  full. 

We  have  a  divided  session  of  the  legislature.  We 
meet  in  January  and  for  thirty  days  introduce  bills  but 
pass  none.  Then  we  adjourn  for  a  month  while  the 
people  review  the  acts  proposed.  The  Japanese  knew 
exactly  then  what  they  must  combat  when  on  March  first 
began  the  session  when  bills  might  be  passed. 

A  number  of  bills,  representing  the  fulfilment  of  cam 
paign  pledges  of  various  candidates,  were  introduced  per 
taining  to  rights  of  Asiatics,  particularly  regarding  land 
ownership.  Most  of  them  avoided  direct  discrimination 
against  any  nation  and  all  that  did  not  were  quickly  elim 
inated  until  the  whole  thought  was  to  protect  the  Amer 
ican  farmer  against  the  alien  ownership  of  his  land  either 
by  aliens  acting  as  individuals  or  as  corporations.  We 
did  not  propose  to  violate  any  treaty,  as  we  have  been  so 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


fluently  but  falsely  accused,  or  to  provoke  international 
complications.  We  did  propose  to  stand  squarely  upon 
our  rights  under  the  Constitution,  to  preserve  our  land 
for  American  citizens  and  to  be  guided  in  doing  so  by  prec 
edents  set  by  the  United  States  government  itself  and  by 
the  governments  of  other  states  where  similar  action  had 
already  been  taken. 

By  the  first  of  March  the  conflict  grew  sharp.  The 
Japanese  Government,  presenting  a  new  spectacle  in 
American  history,  the  spectacle  of  a  foreign  power  com 
ing  within  the  boundaries  of  a  state  and  a  nation  to  cam 
paign  against  its  citizens  and  their  laws  for  its  own 
aggrandisement;  the  Japanese  Government  coming  out 
in  the  full  open  leadership  of  her  subjects,  remembering 
her  success  in  the  school  question  and  profiting  by  her 
preparation  of  many  months,  once  more  began  her  repre 
sentations  at  Washington  and  her  sentiment  making 
throughout  all  the  other  states.  She  succeeded.  Within 
thirty  days,  from  every  quarter  arose  a  cloud  of  comment 
upon  the  State  of  California;  the  thunders  of  adverse 
criticism  reverberated  from  sea  to  sea.  In  thirty  days 
more,  Washington  again  had  been  reached  and  moved 
and  the  President  of  the  United  States  had  dispatched  the 
Secretary  of  State  across  the  continent  to  persuade  a 
legislature  against  the  enactment  of  a  law  which,  upon 
his  arrival,  he  admitted  lay  clearly  within  her  power  to 
enact,  which  his  party  had  pledged  itself  to  enact,  and 
which  the  President  had  countenanced  fully  a  year  before. 

The  people,  the  legislature  and  the  Governor  received 
Mr.  Bryan  with  courtesy  and  good  will  and  paused  to 
know  the  serious  import  of  his  coming.  However  seri 
ous  it  might  be,  for  our  part  we  knew  it  was  the  best 
thing  that  could  happen  to  us,  or  to  all  America;  for  it 
fixed  the  volatile  attention  of  the  American  mind,  if  there 
be  now  such  a  thing  as  the  American  mind,  upon  the  fact 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 


that  there  is  a  Japanese  Problem  in  the  United  States 
and  that  it  is  not  a  State  but  a  National  Problem.  So 
our  Governor  received  him  as  a  friend  and  made  him  his 
guest  in  his  household.  We  placed  at  his  disposal  every 
resource  of  information.  We  took  him  right  out  into  the 
country  that  he  might  see  the  conditions  we  were  trying 
to  prevent  —  communities  which  a  few  years  ago  were 
wholly  white,  now  mostly  Japanese.  We  took  him  into 
school  houses  where  Japanese  children  outnumbered  the 
white  and  into  towns  with  sections  as  wholly  Japanese  as 
if  they  were  in  Japan. 

These  concrete  facts  and  conditions  which  such  men 
as  Gulick,  Millis,  Holt  and  Kawakami  dare  not  deny,  they 
obscure  with  comparisons,  cover  with  argument  and  be 
little  with  scorn.  We  have  never  claimed  that  the 
Japanese  already  owned  the  State  in  large  part  ;  it  is  just 
that  which  we  are  hoping  to  make  impossible.  They 
owned  enough.  They  had  lived  in  our  midst  long 
enough,  numerously  enough  and  concentratedly  enough 
to  establish  with  us  the  truth  of  the  declaration  of  Presi 
dent  Wilson  that  they  "will  drive  out  the  white  agri 
culturist  and  are  in  other  fields  a  most  serious  industrial 
menace."  The  logical  conclusion  of  such  arguments 
against  our  course  is  that  we  should  have  waited  until 
the  Japanese  holdings  were  large  enough  to  imperil  the 
whole  American  ownership  of  the  State  and  the  Amer 
ican  labour  of  the  State,  and  then  we  should  have  acted 
to  retrieve  our  losses.  Foresight,  judicious  action  remov 
ing  evil  when  it  first  appears  —  these  are  the  attributes 
of  good  citizenship  and  they  distinguish  the  statesman 
from  the  academician,  the  opportunist,  the  "believer" 
and  "hoper."  If  at  that  time  these  sentimental  theorists 
had  not  fallen  under  the  wand  of  Oriental  subtlety  and 
had  not  joined  Japan  against  us;  if  they  had  supported 
American  interests  then,  Japan  would  have  found  her 


28  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

aggression  without  hope  in  the  land  and  the  whole  con 
flict  would  now  be  settled  instead  of  being,  through 
American  influence,  complicated  and  enlarged  by  great 
new  demands. 

Before  Mr.  Bryan  had  returned  to  Washington,  the 
President  had  asked  us  to  delay  until  he  could  present 
the  revised  bill  to  the  Japanese  Government.  We  delayed 
long  enough  for  that  to  be  done.  Again  the  Japanese 
Government  protested,  and  then  we  passed  an  Anti- Alien 
Land  Bill  with  this  vote :  Of  thirty-seven  senators,  thirty- 
five  voted  for  it  and  but  two  against  it;  of  seventy-five 
representatives,  seventy-two  voted  for  it  and  but  three 
against  it.  Thus  once  in  American  politics,  without 
regard  to  party,  a  whole  state  joined  in  the  expression  of 
a  common  verdict,  a  verdict  reached  after  forty  years 
of  experiment,  after  a  long  trial  and  full  argument, 
against  the  most  tremendous  national  and  international 
forces  ever  brought  against  a  state;  a  verdict  rendered 
by  a  population  representing  every  state  in  the  Union  and 
equal  in  number  to  the  whole  thirteen  original  Colonies 
in  1776. 


CHAPTER  V 
WHERE  TWO  RACES  MEET 

THE  LAND  LAW 

AND  now  what  is  this  Bill  ? 

For  every  American  must  pass,  and  that  soon,  upon  the 
principle  of  this  law.  There  isn't  a  school  boy  who  has 
ever  played  a  game  of  marbles  who  does  not  know  enough 
to  know  that  if  Japan  can  so  discredit  California  in  the 
estimation  of  the  country  as  to  bring  the  country  to 
break  down  that  law  in  California,  she  will  have  it 
broken  down  in  all  the  American  States!  If  we  in  Cali 
fornia  have  arrived  at  the  time  when  we  may  no  longer 
determine  who  may  and  who  may  not  own  our  soil,  then 
you  in  Maine  and  Ohio  and  Virginia  and  Michigan  have 
arrived  at  the  same  time  when  you  can  no  longer  control 
the  ownership  of  your  soil.  It  is  a  national,  a  universal 
problem. 

The  Bill  pivots  on  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
regarding  aliens,  that  is,  all  those  people  who  are  born 
under  and  belong  to  foreign  governments.  The  laws 
of  the  nation  long  ago  divided  aliens  into  two  classes : 
Those  to  whom  it  has  chosen  to  confer  the  rights  of 
citizenship,  aliens  eligible  to  citizenship;  and  those  to 
whom  it  has  denied  this  right,  aliens  ineligible  to  citizen 
ship.  The  right  and  power  to  make  these  distinctions 
without  explanation  or  apology  to  anyone,  as  we  have 
shown,  is  the  attribute  of  sovereignty  in  governments 
and  never  before  has  it  been  challenged  or  assailed  from 
without. 

29 


30  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Section  I.  of  the  Bill  is  as  follows :  "All  aliens  eligible 
to  citizenship  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States  may 
acquire,  possess,  enjoy,  transfer,  and  inherit  real  prop 
erty  or  any  interest  therein  in  this  State  in  the  same 
manner  and  to  the  same  extent  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States." 

The  brain  of  man  cannot  devise  a  more  liberal  provi 
sion.  It  is  far  more  liberal  than  the  laws  of  many  other 
states  in  which  conditions  and  procedures  are  laid  down 
for  aliens  who  have  not  been  naturalised  before  they 
may  acquire  land.  We  shall  find  some  day,  as  the  world 
war  demonstrates,  that  this  provision  is  too  easy  and  too 
liberal,  for  by  it  citizens  of  other  lands  may  control 
large  areas  of  our  State,  having,  besides  all  the  benefits 
of  our  own  liberties  and  protections,  all  the  advantages 
of  meddlesome  interference  in  time  of  stress  that  come 
from  foreign  diplomacy  or  intrigue.  The  defense  of  the 
property  of  citizens  in  foreign  lands  has  long  been  held 
a  cause  of  war  and  it  seems  by  some  nations  to  have  be 
come  a  legitimate  process  to  develop  a  pretext  for  inter 
vention1  and  war. 


*A  cablegram  from  Manila  announces  that  Japanese  interests  are 
negotiating  the  purchase  of  an  American  lumber  mill  and  its  busi 
ness.  They  have  already  purchased  several  large  sugar  plantations 
and  are  bidding  for  more.  The  lumber  mill  alone  will  cost  them 
about  a  million  dollars. 

Japan  knows  what  it  wants  and  it  is  not  slow  in  moving  towards 
its  aim.  Japanese  are  several  times  as  numerous  in  Hawaii  as  white 
men.  They  have  been  making  soundings  around  Guam.  They  are 
acquiring  interests  in  the  Philippines.  A  million  dollar  lumber  mill 
devastated  by  Filipino  revolutionaries  after  the  United  States  has 
withdrawn  would  tickle  the  Japanese  foreign  office.  It  would  justify 
intervention. 

But  should  we  not  protest  to  Japan  that  it  is  bad  taste  to  begin  the 
process  of  absorption  so  soon? — Editorial,  Chicago  Tribune,  Feb 
ruary,  1916,  as  Congress  was  discussing  the  immediate  independence 
of  the  Philippines. 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM 31 

But  Section  II.  furnishes  the  text  for  the  controversy, 
"All  aliens  other  than  those  mentioned  in  Section  I.  of 
this  act  may  acquire,  possess  and  enjoy  and  transfer  real 
property  or  any  interest  therein  in  this  State,  in  the 
manner  and  to  the  extent  and  for  the  purpose  prescribed 
by  any  treaty  now  existing  between  the  United  States  and 
the  nation  or  country  of  which  such  alien  is  citizen  or 
subject,  and  not  otherwise,  and  may,  in  addition  thereto, 
lease  lands  in  this  state  for  agricultural  purposes  for  a 
term  not  exceeding  three  years." 

Section  II.  makes  the  intent  of  the  law  apply  to  alien 
owned  corporations. 

Section  IV.  provides  for  the  disposition  of  the  real 
property  now  owned  by  an  ineligible  alien  at  death,  to 
wit :  If  he  has  an  heir  who  may  acquire  land  under  the 
condition  of  the  law,  all  the  usual  laws  of  heritage  apply, 
and  it  must  be  remembered  that  children  of  ineligibles,  if 
born  on  American  soil,  are  American  citizens;  if  he  has 
no  such  heir,  the  state  sells  the  land  and  gives  the  pro 
ceeds  to  his  heirs. 

The  remaining  sections  pertain  to  the  amendment  and 
violation  of  the  law. 

I  submit  that  this  law  is  just  and  fair.  It  is  fully 
within  the  province  and  the  rights  of  the  State  to  enact. 
Both  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States  in  official  correspondence  have  declared  that. 
It  does  not  dispossess  any  ineligible  alien  of  the  land  he 
now  has,  but  he  cannot  will  it  to  another  alien,  thus 
holding  American  soil  forever  in  alien  ownership,  and 
he  cannot  will  it  to  his  Emperor  for  a  military  base  or 
a  seaport.  It  does  not  prevent  an  alien  from  leasing 
agricultural  land,  but  he  cannot  have  a  lease  in  length  of 
continuance  to  equal  a  deed. 

It  does  not  discriminate  against  the  Japanese.  Oh, 
how  they  and  their  confreres  raise  that  cry!  They  know 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


that  the  idea  of  equality  is  an  American  fetish — one  of 
those  ideas  that  once  within  the  soul  of  a  nation  is 
accepted  without  thought  and  worshipped  as  national  reli 
gion.  They  know  that  a  sentiment  stirred  by  such  a 
national  fetish  neither  looks  at  facts  nor  listens  to  rea 
son.  It  is  a  bold  and  crafty  stroke.  Such  a  plan  need 
have  no  basis  in  fact  in  order  to  be  powerful,  for  men 
and  nations  go  to  battle  as  readily  when  pursuing  a 
phantom  as  when  following  the  truth. 

But  this  law  does  not  discriminate  against  the  Jap 
anese.  They  are  nowhere  mentioned  in  the  bill.  It  fol 
lows  the  lines  of  classification  made  by  the  United  States, 
and  Japan  insults  the  sovereignty  of  our  National  Gov 
ernment  when  she  calls  it  discrimination  in  the  sense  that 
it  is  injustice  and  injury  or  questions  either  the  wisdom 
or  the  power  of  such  a  classification. 

But  even  calling  this  classification  a  discrimination 
made  by  the  nation,  this  Bill  does  not  discriminate 
against  the  Japanese  any  more  than  against  all  in  his 
class ;  the  Chinese,  the  Turks,  the  Mohammedans,  all  the 
Eurasians,  the  Mongols,  and  the  Malays,  defined  by  our 
laws  as  Asiatics — nearly  800,000,000  of  people,  all  of 
whom  are  ineligible  to  become  American  citizens. 

Why  then  do  we  call  this  a  Japanese  problem?  Why 
do  we  not  call  it  what  it  is,  an  Asiatic  problem,  an 
Oriental  problem,  a  problem  of  ineligible  aliens? 

The  answer  to  that  question  is  the  whole  problem.  It 
is  a  Japanese  problem,  because  against  the  principle  of 
that  law  and  the  whole  body  of  national  ideas  in  which 
it  is  founded,  the  Japanese  nation,  its  citizens  here,  its 
Government  in  Japan,  is  making  a  terrific  assault.  This 
American  classification  irritates  her  sense  of  racial  supe 
riority.  It  interferes  with  the  free  swing  of  her  wide 
flung  self-assertion.  It  impedes  her  economic  advance. 
This  land  bill  in  California  marks  the  frontier  where  two 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  33 

races  deploy  the  essential  forces  of  two  civilisations, 
wholly  different  in  soul.  It  is  the  first  redoubt  that  has 
not  fallen  before  the  violent  aggressions  which  the  "New 
Japan"  launched  when  she  sailed  out  with  army  and 
navy  to  possess  China  in  1894. 


CHAPTER  VI 
OCCIDENT  OR  ORIENT. 

JAPAN'S  RIGHT  TO  OWN  AMERICAN  LAND 

WHAT  have  been  Japan's  objections  to  this  law?  She 
began  to  utter  them  before  the  bill  was  passed.  She  said 
it  would  violate  the  treaty  of  1911.  This  gave  Cali 
fornia  a  chance  to  rewrite  the  bill,  and  she  rewrote  it 
making  it  subject  to  "any  treaty  now  existing  between 
the  United  States  and  the  nation  or  country  of  which 
such  alien  is  a  citizen  or  subject." 

But  there  has  been  wide-spread  report  and  feeling  that 
we  violated  a  treaty  and  violent  criticism  was  based  on 
that  feeling.  Even  now  some  pro-Japanese  tacticians 
continue  to  assert  that  indefensible  charge.  The  Presi 
dent  and  Secretary  of  State  have  assured  Japan  that  it 
cannot  be  interpreted  as  a  treaty  violation.  If  opinion 
is  based  on  the  language  of  the  treaty  of  1911  itself,  on 
examination  of  all  treaties  involved,  on  notes  and  mem 
oranda  when  these  treaties  were  in  the  making,  and  on 
the  official  interpretation  defending  this  law,  it  is  due  us 
from  every  American  citizen  to  withdraw  any  adverse 
judgment  and  to  give  us  what  every  American  citizen 
asks  and  what  every  true  American  ought  to  give  an 
other — the  confidence  and  the  support  of  citizens  of  a 
common  country. 

This  discussion  of  our  violation  of  a  treaty  brings 
up  sharply  the  relation  of  the  treaty-making  powers  of 
the  nation  and  the  law-making  powers  of  a  state.  What 
ever  individuals  may  think  these  powers  ought  to  be, 
we  must  all  agree  that  both  state  and  nation  must  hold 

34 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  35 

rigidly  within  their  respective  bounds  until  new  ones  are 
defined  by  proper  amendments.  This  whole  subject  has 
been  under  discussion  from  the  beginning  of  our  nation 
and  our  most  capable  statesmen  and  jurists  have  con 
tributed  to  it.  It  has  never  been  more  vital  than  now. 

A  recent  treatment  of  this  matter  by  an  eminent 
scholar,  St.  George  Tucker,1  shows  that  there  has  been 
practically  a  perfect  agreement  on  the  part  of  our  states 
men,  publicists  and  jurists  with  respect  to  the  power 
lodged  in  the  Government  to  make  and  ratify  binding 
treaties.  He  quotes  from  the  writings  of  Calhoun, 
Story,  Webster,  William  A.  Duer,  Cooley,  Randolph 
Tucker,  Wharton,  Alexander  Hamilton,  John  Hay,  Wirt, 
Clay,  Jefferson,  Madison  and  others,  all  of  whom  hold 
that  the  Government's  treaties  may  not  violate  the  Fed 
eral  Constitution. 

The  main  conclusions  agreed  upon  Mr.  Tucker  pre 
sents  as  follows : 

"The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  so  limits  the 
treaty-making  power : 

"I.  That  a  treaty  cannot  take  away,  nor  impair, 
the  fundamental  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people 
secured  to  them  in  the  Constitution  and  its  Amend 
ments. 

"II.  That  a  treaty  cannot  bind  the  United  States  by 
any  agreement  to  do  what  is  expressly  or  implicitly 
forbidden  in  the  Constitution. 

"III.  That  a  power  granted  in  the  Constitution,  to 
be  exercised  by  a  certain  department  of  the  Govern 
ment  and  in  a  certain  way,  cannot  be  validly  exercised 

^Treaty-Making  Power.  Limitations  on  the  Treaty-making  Power 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  St.  George  Tucker, 
formerly  Dean  of  the  Washington  and  Lee  University,  and  also  Dean 
of  the  George  Washington  University,  Washington,  D.  C.  Little, 
Brown  &  Co.,  Boston. 


36  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

by  a  treaty  in  disregard  of  the  manner  prescribed  in 
the  Constitution. 

"IV.  That  a  treaty  cannot  change  the  form  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States. 

"V.  That  whenever  control  of  personal  and  prop 
erty  rights  is,  under  the  Constitution,  confided  to  any 
department  of  the  Government,  or  to  a  State,  as  the 
constitutional  repository  of  such  rights,  the  depart 
ment  or  State  may  not  be  ousted  of  its  jurisdiction  by 
having  the  same  transferred  to  the  treaty-making 
power. 

"VI.  That  the  treaty-making  power  cannot  confer 
greater  rights  upon  foreigners  than  are  accorded  cit 
izens  of  the  United  States  under  the  Constitution."  * 

Articles  L,  II.,  III.  and  V.  above  give  complete  basis  for 
our  contention.  The  Constitution  reserves  to  the  states 
the  function  to  make  the  laws  of  personal  and  property 
rights,  the  qualifications  of  land  owrners,  land  transfer 
and  inheritance.  California  and  the  other  states  that  limit 
the  rights  of  aliens  are  acting  fully  within  the  powers 
vested  in  them.  The  treaties  of  the  United  States  can 
not  trespass  on  these  powers. 

But  this  argument  is  not  necessary  as  answer  to  Japan, 
because  this  treaty  of  1911  gives  Japan  no  right  whatever 
to  own  land. 

This  treaty  of  1911  is  entitled,  "A  Treaty  of  Com 
merce  and  Navigation,"  and  it  holds  strictly  within  the 
realm  of  the  subjects  embraced  in  the  title.  It  was  not 
intended  to  define  the  land  rights  to  be  granted  by  either 
party  and  does  not  attempt  it. 

The  word  land  is  mentioned  but  once  in  all  the  treaty. 
The  rights  granted  are  stated  in  great  clearness  and  are 
as  follows : 

^ee  New  York  Times,  February,  1916. 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  37 

"The  citizens  or  subjects  of  each  of  the  High  Contract 
ing  Parties  shall  have  liberty  to  enter,  travel  and  reside 
in  the  territories  of  the  other  to  carry  on  trade,  wholesale 
and  retail,  to  own  or  lease  and  occupy  houses,  manufac 
tories,  warehouses,  and  shops,  to  employ  agents  of  their 
choice,  to  lease  land  for  residential  and  commerce  pur 
poses,  and  generally  to  do  anything  incident  to  or  neces 
sary  for  trade  upon  the  same  terms  as  native  citizens  or 
subjects  submitting  themselves  to  the  laws  and  regulations 
there  established.1' 

The  liberties  exchanged  are :  To  enter,  travel  and  reside 
for  the  purpose  of  wholesale  and  retail  trade;  to  own, 
lease  or  occupy  houses,  manufactories,  warehouses,  and 
shops  to  carry  on  trade;  to  lease  land  for  residential  or 
commercial  purposes  to  carry  on  trade. 

This  treaty  gives  to  Japan  no  right  to  own  the  land  on 
which  she  may  own  houses,  manufactories,  warehouses 
and  shops, — she  may  only  lease  that  land  under  a  plain 
interpretation  of  the  treaty. 

It  gives  Japan  no  right  to  lease,  much  less  to  own,  agri 
cultural  land  and  it  was  the  aggressions  on  agricultural 
land  that  gave  rise  to  the  land  law. 

Here,  then,  we  begin  to  study  the  Oriental  interpreta 
tion  of  a  contract.  For  often  it  happens  that  it  matters 
not  so  much  what  is  in  the  contract;  it  is  the  interpreta 
tion  of  it  that  counts. 

We  as  individuals  and  as  a  nation  interpret  contracts  to 
confer  only  those  rights  that  are  specially  defined  therein 
— no  more ;  Japan  apparently  interprets  a  contract  to  give 
her  not  only  all  rights  defined  therein,  but  also  to  permit 
her  rights  that  are  not  definitely  denied  therein.  And 
between  this  positive  and  this  negative  interpretation  of 
contract  are  the  Occident  and  the  Orient. 

These  statements  as  well  as  the  nature  of  Japanese 
diplomacy  will  be  illuminated  by  a  brief  review  of  the 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


official  correspondence  between  Japan  and  the  United 
States  regarding  the  California  land  law. 

First  let  us  trace  Japan's  contention  of  her  right  to  own 
land  under  existing  treaties.  In  Note  I.,  she  claims  that 
the  California  law  "is  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of 
the  treaty  actually  in  force  between  Japan  and  the  United 
States,"  referring  to  the  treaty  of  1911. 

Our  government  in  reply  quotes  the  original  draft  of 
this  treaty  which  was  submitted  by  Japan  herself  through 
Baron  Uchida  and  which  became  the  basis  of  the  treaty. 
Our  government  says  of  this:  "It  will  be  observed  that 
in  this  clause  which  was  intended  to  deal  with  the  subject 
of  real  property  there  is  no  reference  to  the  ownership  of 
land.  The  reason  of  this  omission  is  understood  to  be 
that  the  Imperial  government  desired  to  avoid  treaty 
engagements  concerning  ownership  of  land  by  foreigners 
and  to  regulate  the  matter  wholly  by  domestic  legisla 
tion." 

Why  did  Japan  at  that  time  avoid  treaty  engagements 
regarding  the  right  to  own  land?  Because  if  she  secured 
land  ownership  by  treaty  from  America  she  would  have 
to  give  the  same  right  by  treaty  to  America.  Her  na 
tional  policy  would  then  have  compelled  her  to  grant  the 
land  right  to  all  foreigners.  This  she  did  not  want  to 
do.  Hence,  upon  Japan's  own  wish  to  deny  land  rights 
to  Americans  there  was  no  exchange  of  land  rights  in 
the  treaty.  But  we  are  treated  to  a  genuine  surprise  in 
Japan's  last  note  made  fifteen  months  later  when  she 
reversed  her  own  contention  by  saying,  "The  reason  why 
no  stipulation  regarding  land  ownership  was  inserted  in 
the  treaty  is  because  neither  contracting  party  desired 
at  that  time  such  a  stipulation,  the  United  States  equally 
with  Japan."  What  an  admission !  The  Japanese  gave 
no  right,  they  received  no  right  to  own  land! 

How  then  can  Japan  continue  to  claim  the  right  to 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  39 

own  land  in  America?  When  she  wrote  Note  I.  she 
located  that  right  in  Article  XIV.  of  this  same  treaty 
under  "the  most  favored  nation"  clause. 

The  United  States  shows  Japan  that  the  land  right  is 
not  conveyed  under  that  clause  and  that  it  has  not  been 
customary  in  the  practice  of  the  United  States  to  grant 
the  land  right  in  any  Treaty  of  Commerce  and  Naviga 
tion.  "Article  XIV.  of  the  treaty  to  which  your  Excel 
lency  refers  appears  to  relate  solely  to  the  rights  of  com 
merce  and  navigation.  These  the  California  statute  does 
not  appear  to  be  designed  in  any  way  to  affect.  The 
authors  of  the  law  seem  to  have  been  careful  to  guard 
against  any  invasion  of  contractual  rights." 

Again  Japan  returns  to  what  we  may  term  the  inclusive 
or  negative  interpretation  in  order  to  claim  for  her  sub 
jects  in  America  the  right  to  inherit  American  soil.  She 
says  the  treaty  of  1911  gave  her  the  right  "to  own  and 
lease  houses" ;  that  "the  words  'to  own'  are  words  of  the 
widest  significance,  and  .  .  .  include  ...  the  right 
to  acquire  real  property  in  question  by  all  ordinary  lawful 
means,  viz.,  by  purchase,  by  devise,  and  by  descent,  and 
those  words  also  it  is  contended  cover  the  right  to  dispose 
of  such  real  property  when  duly  acquired  by  all  various 
methods  known  to  the  law,  viz.,  by  sale,  by  gift,  by  be 
quest  and  by  transmission.  In  other  words  ownership 
carried  with  it  as  a  necessary  incident  full  right  of  aliena 
tion." 

Our  government  tells  Japan  that  her  claim  "appears  to 
extend  too  far  the  theory  that  the  ownership  of  property 
carries  with  it  a  vested  right  to  dispose  of  such  property 
in  all  the  ways  in  which  property  may  be  transferred,  by 
sale,  by  gift,  by  devise,  or  by  descent  without  future  limi 
tation  or  restriction.  Such  a  theory  would  render  it 
impossible  for  a  country  to  alter  its  laws  with  regard  to 
the  transmission  of  property.  So  far  as  the  Department 


40  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

is  advised  it  has  never  been  held  that  a  right  of  ownership 
vested  either  in  a  citizen  or  in  an  alien  would  be  impaired 
by  a  change  in  the  law  denying  to  any  and  all  aliens  the 
right  to  purchase  lands.  Such  changes  in  the  law  have 
not  been  infrequent  either  in  the  United  States  or  else 
where  and  it  is  believed  that  they  have  not  been  held  to 
impair  vested  rights." 

In  like  manner  the  precedents  which  Japan  cites  from 
the  history  of  the  United  States  in  order  to  establish  her 
contention  actually  become  counts  against  Japan  when 
they  are  fully  narrated.  It  is  surprising  that  trained  dip 
lomats  of  any  nation  should  take  only  such  parts  of  an 
historic  occurrence  as  will  seem  to  support  their  claim  and 
should  omit  those  very  essential  factors  which  render  the 
past  incident  cited  no  parallel  at  all  to  the  present  incident. 

Case  I.  Japan  claims  that  in  1875  the  United  States 
set  up  against  Brazil  on  account  of  the  acts  of  one  of  her 
provinces,  the  same  contention  which  Japan  now  makes 
against  the  United  States  on  account  of  one  of  our  states, 
to  wit,  that  the  national  government  of  Brazil  (quoting 
the  language  of  the  United  States  to  Brazil)  "Must  be 
held  accountable  for  any  injury  to  the  person  or  property 
of  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  committed  by  a  citizen 
of  a  province." 

The  United  States  points  out  to  Japan  that  in  this  case 
she  had  limited  the  responsibility  of  the  Brazilian  national 
government  to  those  cases  "when  justice  may  be  unobtain 
able  through  the  courts"',  and  she  reminds  Japan  that 
since  the  very  beginning  of  this  controversy  the  courts  of 
the  United  States  have  been  open  to  her  for  settlement  of 
all  claims.  The  incident  does  not  apply. 

Case  II.  In  Note  II.  Japan  claims  that  the  United 
States  in  1879  made  against  Mexico  exactly  the  same 
diplomatic  representations  regarding  land  rights  in 
Mexico  that  Japan  now  makes  regarding  land  rights  in 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  41 

the  United  States.  This  she  says  establishes  her  own  case 
in  full  as  a  part  of  the  general  policy  of  the  United  States. 

The  United  States  answers  that  she  acknowledges  that 
in  1879  our  Secretary  of  State  had  gone  with  Mexico  to 
the  full  length  of  the  Japanese  claim  with  the  United 
States  on  the  basis  of  a  treaty  of  Commerce  and  Naviga 
tion.  Quoting  at  length  the  answer  Mexico  made  to  us, 
our  State  Department  shows  Japan  that  Mexico  made  her 
position  so  forceful  that  the  claim  of  the  United  States 
appeared  untenable;  and  although  our  Secretary  of  State 
at  the  time  made  a  second  protest  in  reply  to  Mexico,  the 
government  of  Mexico  paid  no  attention  to  it,  and  did  not 
even  answer  our  final  note,  and  the  whole  argument  and 
contention  was  abandoned  by  the  United  States!! 

Case  III.  Again  in  Note  II.  Japan  cites  a  resolution 
that  was  passed  by  our  House  of  Representatives  arraign 
ing  Russia  for  her  severe  treatment  of  the  Jews,  stating 
that  Russia  had  violated  her  treaty  with  the  United  States 
by  discrimination  based  on  race  and  religion;  Japan  claims 
this  is  the  exact  charge  she  makes  against  the  United 
States;  to  wit:  that  the  United  States  is  making  unjust 
discrimination  against  her  on  account  of  race. 

Our  State  Department  replies  that  the  resolution  cited 
by  Japan  "was  never  communicated  to  the  Russian  gov 
ernment  and  never  assumed  an  international  character"; 
and  that  the  passage  quoted  by  Japan  does  not  even  appear 
in  the  resolution  adopted  by  Congress;  and  that  "the  pre 
vious  conditions  continue  and  the  discrimination  com 
plained  of  remains  unchanged"!! 

This  is  Japanese  diplomacy. 

America,  watch  your  step ! 


CHAPTER  VII 
"LET  US  ARBITRATE" 

A  LEVER  PLACED  UNDER  AMERICAN  SOVEREIGNTY 

WHEN  Japan's  claims  of  discrimination  and  the  viola 
tion  of  the  treaty  of  1911  were  refused,  her  publicists  at 
home,  her  subjects  and  friends  here  at  once  set  up  the  pro 
posal  to  arbitrate  the  whole  matter  at  The  Hague. 

In  January,  1914,  Hamilton  Holt,  of  The  Independent, 
wrote  a  pamphlet  entitled,  Wanted:  A  Final  Solution  of 
the  Japanese  Problem.  Thousands  of  copies  of  it  were 
distributed  by  the  American  Association  for  International 
Conciliation — one  of  the  Peace  Societies  supported  by  the 
Carnegie  Endowment.  In  it  he  fiercely  assails  the  Pacific 
Coast,  particularly  California  and  all  other  pro- Amer 
icans  in  this  America-Japan  affair,  and  he  comes  out 
clearly  as  the  champion  of  Japan's  case,  which  he  ap 
proves  in  every  detail.  He  says  of  arbitration,  "If  the 
case  should  come  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  it  is  likely  to  be  decided  in  favour  of  Japan. 
If  the  case  should  go  to  the  Hague  Court,  the  decision 
would  probably  likewise  be  in  favour  of  Japan.  The 
equity  is  on  her  side." 

Japan  has  no  legal  right  to  ask  arbitration  because  of 
any  treaty  we  have  with  her.  But  the  proposal  to  arbi 
trate  the  question  met  an  immediate  response  among  our 
sentimentalists,  just  as  Japan  knew  it  would,  for  the  idea 
appealed  to  is  another  American  fetish — fair  play.  It  is 
a  fetish  because  we  approach  fair  play  with  sure  con 
fidence,  because  we  really  mean  it,  and  we  believe  the 

42 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  43 

other  side  will  be  forced  to  it  out  of  sheer  regard  for  our 
innocent  integrity.  Nations  ought  to  deal  so,  but  this  is 
sheer  surrender  in  practical  diplomacy  as  it  is  now.  It  is 
a  fetish  in  this  particular  case  because  the  conditions  of 
fair  play  do  not  exist.  Why  ? 

Japan  has  everything  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose.  We 
have  everything  to  lose  and  nothing  to  gain.  Japan  has 
not  been  deprived  of  any  rights  ever  conferred  upon  her 
by  our  laws  or  ever  acquired  by  treaty.  Japanese  aliens 
have  never  had  the  right  to  own  land, — they  have  merely 
assumed  it  on  their  own  initiative.  Americans  should 
know  that  of  all  the  governments  of  the  great  powers  our 
own  is  the  most  unfinished,  and  we  have  left  to  the  last 
that  which,  of  all  peoples,  we  should  have  settled  first. 
We  receive  into  residence  in  the  United  States  annually 
more  aliens  than  do  all  other  great  powers  combined,  and 
yet  we  have  never  established  a  national  code  which 
defines  the  rights  of  aliens  positively  and  negatively. 
Aliens  come  here  of  their  own  volition;  in  recent  years 
these  masses  are  drawn  here  wholly  by  selfish  and  eco 
nomic  motives,  not  with  the  thoughts  of  our  forefathers. 
We  permit  these  aliens  to  imitate  our  acts,  assume  our 
rights  and  let  them  live  among  us  wholly  without  chal 
lenge,  even  though  they  maintain  but  the  shadow  of  con 
formity  to  our  institutions.  We  even  permit  them  to 
assault  these  institutions,  libel  our  officials,  preach  anarchy 
and,  to  quote  President  Wilson,  "to  pour  the  poison  of 
disloyalty  into  the  arteries  of  our  nation."  But  if  you  step 
over  into  Japan,  you  find  a  national  code,  as  formal  and 
complete  as  a  dictionary,  which  defines  everything  you  can 
do  and  everything  you  cannot  do.  And  mark,  in  passing, 
one  of  the  things  you  cannot  do  is  to  own  land  in  fee 
simple  anywhere;  and  in  important  districts,  or  any  "dis 
trict  needed  for  military  purposes,"  aliens  cannot  secure 
the  use  of  land,  not  even  under  the  restricted  means  by 


44       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

which  now,  by  hook  and  crook,  land  is  obtained  by  a 
"juridical  person." 

Arbitrate !  What  is  it  that  Japan  has  asked  us  to  carry 
to  a  court  where  she  has  everything  to  gain  and  nothing 
to  lose,  and  where  the  chances  are  in  her  favour  that  other 
nations,  whose  interests  are  identical  with  her  own,  may 
join  her  to  interpret  claims  to  American  resources  for 
their  common  advantage  ?  What  is  it  that  Japan  has  asked 
us  to  arbitrate  ?  Nothing  less  than  our  right  to  own  our 
own  soil.  Upon  a  nation's  right  to  own  its  soil,  to  sell  it 
to  whom  she  pleases,  to  deny  it  to  whom  she  pleases  with 
out  explanation,  question  or  quibble,  all  the  power  in 
sovereignty  rests.  Undermine  that  foundation  and  the 
structure  of  our  government  will  crack  to  the  turret's  top. 

The  land  right  is  the  determining  force  in  government 
and  civil  liberty  depends  upon  it.  So  long  as  the  land 
right  resided  in  monarchs,  governments  were  hereditary 
and  despotic;  then  slaves  were  everywhere;  then  Pha 
raohs  built  pyramids  and  Neros  killed  at  will.  Liberty 
could  not  be  born  in  the  world  until  the  common  man 
came  to  own  the  land  on  which  her  infant  feet  could  rest. 
The  founders  of  our  nation  so  clearly  understood  that 
principle  when  they  wrote  the  Constitution  that  they  held 
the  land  right  far  from  the  central  power  and  vested  it  in 
the  people  of  the  states,  who  then  held  it  and  would  not 
give  it  up;  nor  were  they  required  to  give  it  up.  The 
rights  to  make  the  laws  fixing  the  terms  of  land  owner 
ship,  transfer  and  inheritance  were  vested  in  the  several 
states  and  there  they  must  remain.  The  nation  cannot 
arbitrate  the  rights  of  the  state  to  own  and  control  its  soil. 

Mr.  I.  N.  Ito,  Secretary  of  the  Japanese  Legation  at 
Berlin,  just  before  the  war,  heard  this  statement  made  in 
an  address  and  answered  it  on  the  following  day  with  true 
diplomatic  craft  and  Oriental  art.  He  realized  that 
no  government  could  arbitrate  a  question  involving  its 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  45 

sovereignty,  and  so  he  diverted  the  attention  from  the 
fact.  "Mr.  Flowers  misstated  the  proposal  as  a  challenge 
to  the  United  States  to  determine  the  ownership  of  Amer 
ican  soil,  but  the  controversy  is  whether  America  has 
violated  the  treaty  of  1911.  The  arbitration  is  to  deter 
mine  whose  interpretation  is  correct."  l 

But  a  decision  in  Japan's  favour  would  at  once  impair 
our  sovereignty,  give  her  the  right  to  own  American  soil, 
contrary  to  the  intent  of  the  makers  of  the  treaty,  con 
trary  to  our  desire,  and  it  would  result  in  the  surrender  of 
our  sovereign  right  or  the  immediate  recall  of  the  treaty, 
with  results,  in  either  case,  too  serious  to  court.  Further, 
if  the  Japanese  be  given  the  right  to  own  land,  they  will 
have  the  right  to  buy  more;  and  that  under  the  terms  of 
"The  Gentleman's  Agreement"  entitles  them  to  come  in 
and  possess  it,  and  to  dwell  upon  it  in  such  numbers  as 
they  choose.  And  there !  You  have  the  door  open. 

This  then  is  to  arbitrate  sovereignty.  In  support  of 
this  position,  I  quote  from  the  remarkable  article,  "The 
Japanese  Menace,"  in  The  Century  for  March,  1916, 
written  by  Thomas  F.  Millard.2 

"Japan's  point  of  view  is  merely  that  her  people  want 
to  come  to  western  countries  and  to  have  the  same  rights 
and  opportunities  here  that  others  have.  The  real  pres 
sure  behind  this  desire  I  have  already  indicated  (eco 
nomic  advantage  over  Japan  itself,  of  China,  Korea  or 
Manchuria)  and  it  is  a  condition  that  cannot  be  amelio 
rated  by  arguments  or  satisfied  by  concessions  to  'honour.' 
In  support  of  her  point  of  view  Japan  advances  argu 
ments,  some  of  which  seem  plausible  at  first  blush  but  all 
of  which  are  inconsistent  in  some  degree  and  almost 


^alamazoo,  Michigan,  July,  1914. 

2Editor  of  The  China  Press,  Shanghai ;  author  of  "The  New  Far 
East,  America  and  the  Far  Eastern  Question." 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


wholly  irreconcilable  with  what  our  nation  can  possibly 
concede.  Japan  insists  that  her  subjects  shall  have  the 
same  position  and  rights  in  the  United  States  as,  let  us 
say,  Englishmen  or  French  or  Dutch  or  Germans.  That 
seems  fair  enough,  but  consider  —  with  whom  does  it  rest 
to  say  who  shall  and  who  shall  not  join  in  our  nationality, 
share  our  political  and  social  life?  With  this  nation,  of 
course.  To  submit  that  decision  in  any  part  to  a  foreign 
nation  would  mean  to  qualify  our  sovereignty.  We 
reserve  to  ourselves  the  right  to  exclude  or  admit  whom 
we  will,  according  to  standards  of  citizenship  which  we 
make  for  ourselves.  From  this  position  I  am  sure  Amer 
icans  cannot  be  budged  except  by  superior  force  of 
arms." 

A  startling  principle  on  the  right  to  the  land  of  the 
world  is  laid  down  by  Japanese  scholars  and  statesmen. 
It  is  ever  the  trick  of  the  aggressor,  in  order  to  hide  his 
evil,  to  lay  down  some  righteous-looking  general  principle 
of  apparent  universal  application.  The  Japanese  are 
masters  in  that.  When  you  know  the  Japanese  mind  you 
instinctively  begin  to  thread  your  way  from  his  general 
law  to  his  application  of  it  to  discover  its  purpose  and 
where  the  deception  comes  in.  Here  is  an  instance. 

Mr.  Sidney  L.  Gulick,  whom  the  Independent  and  The 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  declare  is  the 
American  most  competent  to  interpret  the  spirit  of  Japan, 
represents  in  one  of  his  books  the  Japanese  speaking  to 
each  other  as  follows  : 

"What  a  shame  it  is  that  the  domineering,  insolent 
white  man  has  seized  all  the  great  unoccupied  countries 
with  their  vast  natural  resources,  and  selfishly  holds  them 
for  himself,  while  we  who  constitute  more  than  a  half 
of  the  world's  most  cultured  peoples  are  cooped  up  in 
these  limited  lands.  Surely  the  white  peoples  must  finally 
be  forced,  if  necessary,  to  grant  us  that  equality  of  oppor- 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  47 

tunity  and  courtesy  of  treatment  which  they  accord  one 
another." 

Clearer  still  is  voiced  this  creed,  that  all  land  belongs  to 
all  men,  by  Professor  Nagai  of  Waseda  University  as  fol 
lows:  "In  Australia,  South  America,  Canada  and  the 
United  States  [all  white-man  lands,  observe]  are  vast 
tracts  of  unoccupied  territory,  yet  no  yellow  people  are 
permitted  to  enter.  To  seize  the  greater  part  of  the  earth 
and  refuse  to  share  it,  is  so  manifestly  unjust  that  it  can 


not  continue." 


That  is  the  teaching  of  her  Universities;  her  press, 
magazines,  books  and  addresses  are  full  of  it.  Upon  such 
a  principle  she  can  with  quiet  conscience  pursue  her  seiz 
ure  in  Korea,  Manchuria,  and  China, — and  America. 
That  is  the  challenge  Japan  makes  to  the  boundary  lines 
of  the  white  countries  of  the  world. 

But  the  challenge  does  not  end  with  that.  Kawakami, 
head  of  the  Japanese  Association  of  America  and  leader 
of  their  campaign  in  the  United  States,  says  the  United 
States  has  not  even  the  right  to  determine  who  may  and 
who  may  not  come  in  and  occupy  our  soil.  His  statement 
is  the  most  radical  yet  made,  but  at  last  it  reveals  the  spirit 
of  the  Japanese  toward  the  world,  it  speaks  out  the  arro 
gant  and  revolutionary  "general  principles"  of  Japan's 
diplomacy;  it  is  a  fine  illustration  of  the  inclusive  or  neg 
ative  interpretation  of  a  treaty  as  you  will  note;  for  he 
makes  immigration  a  subordinate  element  of  travel  and 
trade ;  and  then  includes  the  rights  to  immigrate,  to  settle, 
to  buy,  to  own  and  to  remain  under  the  granted  rights  of 
trade  and  travel.  His  statement  is : 

"There  is  another  point  which  the  Americans  must  bear 
in  mind  in  discussing  the  immigration  question.  The  pet 
theory  of  Japanese  exclusiomsts  has  been  that  the  Amer 
ican  Government  has  the  right  to  decide  what  people 
should  be  admitted  and  what  should  be  barred  out.  For 


48  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

the  sake  of  politeness  Japan  has  been  willing  to  concede 
that  point  in  favour  of  America.  But  the  truth  is  that 
America,  or  any  other  nation,  has  no  such  right.  Immi 
gration  is  simply  another  term  for  travel  and  trade,  and 
the  freedom  of  travel  and  trade  from  one  country  to 
another  is  explicitly  guaranteed  in  all  international  treaties 
of  amity  and  commerce.  If  Japan  restricts  of  her  own 
accord  the  immigration  of  her  subjects  to  this  country, 
it  is  not  because  she  recognizes  America's  right  to  dis 
criminate  against  her,  but  because  she  prefers  to  retain 
American  friendship  rather  than  create  a  serious  issue 
over  immigration.  In  other  words,  Japan's  voluntary 
restriction  of  emigration  to  America  is  a  special  act  of 
courtesy  and  not  an  admission  of  American  right  of  ex 
clusion."1 

Japan  goes  much  further.  She  demands  that  our  gov 
ernment  be  made  over  in  profound  essentials  to  conform 
to  her  own  national  ideas.  "What  we  demand  is  the  prin 
ciple  of  equal  treatment  of  all  aliens  resident  in  the  United 
States."  2 

"Of  course,"  cry  the  pro-Japanese  sentimentalists,  the 
Hamilton  Holts,  Gulicks,  Scudders,  Mabies,  the  Steiners, 
and  Millises,  for  Japan  has  struck  another  fetish  of  theirs 
—the  fetish  of  "general  principle."  "Of  course,  we  must 
act  with  all  nations  on  general  principle."  But  let  us  con 
sider  Japan's  own  use  of  this  general  principle. 

First.  Japan  treats  all  aliens  except  Chinese  and 
negroes  equally  well,  but  none  of  them  so  well  as  her  own 
people.  Aliens  in  Japan  have  by  no  means  the  rights  of 
nationals;  from  some  districts  they  are  excluded  alto 
gether;  they  have  not  the  same  land  rights  in  any.  This 
is  alien  discrimination. 


lNew  York  Times,  July  5,  1916. 

*The  Japan  Times f  (Official  Organ  of  the  Government.) 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  49 

Second.  Japan's  aliens  are  of  two  classes:  Mongolians 
and  Whites.  She  discriminates  in  favour  of  her  own 
citizens  against  her  own  race,  the  Mongolians,1  and  also 
against  the  white  race,  and  her  scorn  of  negroes  is  a  fact 
patent  to  the  world.  This  is  race  discrimination. 

Third.  In  her  conquered  states  of  Manchuria  and 
Korea  she  gives  her  conquered  people  rights  equal  to  one 
another  but  by  no  means  equal  to  Japanese,  for  whom  she 
reserves  special  advantages  of  great  value.  This  is  dis 
crimination  against  her  oivn  subjects. 

Fourth.  In  China,  where  Japan  herself  is  alien,  she 
says,  "China,  you  must  treat  all  other  foreign  nations  on 
equal  terms  but,  to  me,  you  must  give  additional  valuable 
rights  to  your  resources,  development,  commerce  and 
military  and  you  must  consult  me  in  all  important  matters 
and  give  preference  in  business  to  my  nationalities." 
This  is  despotic  discrimination  in  the  meanest  form. 


*In  1899  the  Japanese  government  passed  a  law  (Ordinance  352) 
in  which  she  went  far  beyond  the  California  Land  Law.  She  denied 
to  alien  labourers  the  rights  to  enter  any  except  very  restricted  terri 
tory,  even  though  these  aliens  had  by  treaty  the  rights  of  residence, 
trade,  and  other  acts  in  the  whole  Japanese  Empire.  This  act  was 
aimed  at  the  Chinese,  as  our  Government  reminds  Japan  in  the  offi 
cial  correspondence  which  follows:  "The  Department  is  advised 
that  this  Ordinance  was  promulgated  in  order  to  prevent  the  immi 
gration  of  Chinese  labourers  who  were  attracted  to  Japan  by  the 
rise  in  wages  which  began  in  that  country  after  the  war  with  China, 
and  has  continued  ever  since.  As  a  result  of  the  rise  in  wages  con 
ditions  grew  up  not  unlike  those  which  have  existed  at  certain  places 
in  the  United  States,  the  objections  made  in  Japan  to  Chinese 
labourers  being  that  they  worked  for  lower  wages  than  the  natives. 
In  the  summer  of  1907,  as  the  Department  is  advised,  two  groups 
of  Chinese  labourers  were  excluded  from  Japan  under  the  application 
of  the  ordinance  above  mentioned,  one  of  the  excluded  groups  being 
composed  of  coolies,  the  other  of  skilled  artisans,  such  as  mechanics. 
The  Department  is  not  advised  that  the  Ordinance  has  been  or  is 
enforced  as  against  labourers  other  than  Chinese." 


50  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

This  is  Japan's  application  of  her  general  principle  of 
equal  treatment,  which  is  violated  by  herself  in  four  dif 
ferent  ways.  What  moral  force  should  her  example  have 
in  driving  Americans  to  give  her  equal  rights  with  other 
aliens,  which  in  practice  would  give  her  equal  rights  with 
ourselves  ? 

But  she  makes  other  demands  quite  as  impertinent  and 
revolutionary.  "What  we  further  demand  is  a  funda 
mental  remedy,  which  shall  eliminate  all  racial  incapacity 
for  our  nationals."  This  would  revise  our  naturalisa 
tion  code  and  immigration  laws,  repeal  the  Gentleman's 
Agreement,  and  reverse  our  whole  Oriental  policy.  "And 
we  demand  the  elimination  of  the  rights  of  individual 
states  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  treaty  rights 
granted  by  Washington,"  in  which  she  reserves  to  herself 
the  modest  prerogative  of  defining  the  "individual  rights/' 
the  "interference"  and  "the  treaty  rights  granted  at 
Washington."  That  is,  America  must  revise  the  Consti 
tution  to  readjust  the  states  to  the  nation ! 

The  President  and  Secretary  did  not  offer  to  arbitrate 
the  California  law  at  The  Hague,  but  they  did  offer  to  try 
the  case  in  the  Courts  of  the  United  States  and  to  reim 
burse  any  Japanese  for  any  losses  the  law  might  entail. 
Our  government  at  Washington  even  offered  to  buy  all 
Japanese  lands  at  highest  market  value.  Never  let  this 
be  forgotten!  Japan  wrould  not  trust  the  Courts  of  the 
United  States,  nor  accept  the  offer  of  indemnity,  nor  sell 
the  lands  she  held.  To  none  of  this  would  she  listen.  She 
had  long  been  waiting  for  this  opportunity  to  cajole 
Americans  into  granting  far  greater  gifts.  She  had  set 
for  her  nationals  a  higher  goal.  She  determined  to  wait. 
Meantime  she  would  begin  a  campaign  for  the  Conquest 
of  American  Public  Opinion — a  campaign  of  remarkable 
cleverness,  pushed  with  all  the  fatalistic  vigour  of  her 
nature.  She  discontinued  negotiations  with  the  United 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  51 

States  June  10,  1914,  and  published  the  correspondence. 
In  her  last  sentence  she  laid  down  in  clear  English,  of 
unmistakable  import,  what  may  be  called  a  perpetual  auto 
matic  ultimatum :  'The  Imperial  Government  is  unable  to 
acquiesce  in  the  unjust  and  obnoxious  discrimination  com 
plained  of,  or  to  regard  the  question  as  closed  so  long  as 
the  existing  state  of  things  is  permitted  to  continue." 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  GOAL  AND  THE  WAY  TO  IT 

JAPAN  REVEALS  HER  REAL  PURPOSES 

AND  now  what  is  the  goal  at  which  the  Japanese  aim, 
the  goal  at  the  end  of  the  campaign  begun  so  long  ago?  It 
is  American  citizenship,  with  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  American-born  white  man — the  right  of  free  en 
trance  for  her  nationals  into  the  United  States ;  the  right 
to  vote ;  the  right  to  own  American  land  anywhere,  in  any 
quantity,  for  any  purpose ;  the  right  to  be  legislators  and 
governors  of  states;  the  right  to  go  to  Congress  and  make 
the  laws;  the  right  to  sit  upon  our  Supreme  Courts  of 
State  and  Nation,  and  there  to  determine  the  very  genius 
of  our  future  civilisation. 

And  what  more  lies  beyond  this  goal  ?  When  he  is  an 
American  citizen  he  will  be  in  a  position  to  secure,  what 
he  now  asserts,  equal  social  standing  before  the  laws  of 
all  the  states, — the  right  to  mix  his  blood  with  any  blood 
he  chooses  to  mix  it  with.  And  that  is  a  race  problem, 
the  impact  of  which  may  stagger  if  it  does  not  at  last 
prostrate  the  white  race  of  our  land. 

Since  being  ineligible  to  American  citizenship  hinders 
his  possession  of  our  Pacific  lands,  he  will  remove  that 
ineligibility.  Then  all  anti-alien  land  laws  will  fall  to 
the  ground.  Then  by  concentrating  his  population  in 
certain  states  and  in  special  centres  in  those  states,  and 
waiting,  waiting  for  more  men,  for  all  their  "picture 
brides,"  and  for  their  native  born  children,  who  are 
American  citizens  by  right  of  birth ;  waiting  until  all  these 

52 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  53 

vote,  he  will  have  his  representatives  at  the  capitols,  con 
trol  the  balance  of  power  and  be  master  of  his  destiny. 
It  is  a  master  stroke. 

Within  thirty  days  after  the  passage  of  the  land  law 
and  two  months  before  it  went  into  effect,  the  Japanese 
press  and  interviews  with  their  consuls  and  officials 
became  summarised  into  the  reported  statement  of  the 
Japanese  Consul  General  in  New  York  as  follows:  "The 
Japanese  Government  now  desires  for  its '  nationals  the 
full  privilege  of  American  citizenship,  on  an  equal  footing 
with  other  civilised  nations."  And  a  year  later  came  the 
clear  demand  in  the  official  organ  of  the  Japanese  Govern 
ment  :  "What  we  demand  is  a  fundamental  remedy,  a  new 
treaty  providing  for  the  elimination  of  racial  incapacity 
for  our  nationals."  Thus  Japan  appealed  her  case  from 
the  people  of  California  to  all  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  And  the  Third  Conflict  was  on. 

For  in  the  first  and  second  conflicts  Japan  had  studied 
the  American  people  and  she  concluded  it  would  be  easier 
to  move  all  the  people  once  than  to  hold  part  of  the  people 
all  the  time.  Where  she  is  known,  where  she  has  been 
tried,  she  has  been  rejected.  She  now  turns  to  the  lines 
of  least  resistance,  which  she  has  clearly  defined. 

First  of  all,  she  has  discovered  that  the  American 
people  are  intensely  local;  that  most  of  them  are  so  inter 
ested  in  their  own  little  business,  their  own  little  town  and 
county  that  they  are  content  to  remain  in  total  ignorance 
of  the  deep  meaning  and  rapid  development  of  this 
problem.  She  has  found  them  about  as  indifferent  to  the 
Japanese  problem  as  they  are  ignorant.  What  is  more, 
and  what  is  a  sure  sign  of  national  weakness  and  decline, 
she  has  found  most  of  them  careless  of  the  welfare  of 
the  next  generation,  and  almost  wholly  regardless  of  the 
next,  and  the  next  after  that. 

One  day  an  old  gentleman  attended  a  lecture  at  a  Chau- 


54       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

tauqua  where  this  problem  was  presented.  After  the  lec 
ture  the  speaker  was  walking  up  the  street  behind  this  old 
gentleman  who  was  talking  fluently  to  two  fine  ladies. 
This  is  what  he  said,  and  it  fairly  represents  a  great  body 
of  Americans :  "Well,  well,  ladies,  I  didn't  get  very  much 
out  of  that  lecture.  No  I  didn't,  no  I  didn't.  For  my  part 
I'd  just  as  soon  see  the  Japanese  come  into  this  country 
as  some  other  folks,  yes  I  would,  yes  I  would.  Anyway, 
they'll  never  give  me  any  trouble  in  my  day  and  genera 
tion  and  I'll  just  let  the  next  generation  take  care  of 
itself."  That  man  and  all  of  his  like  should  have  appeared 
on  this  earth  in  a  form  to  permit  them  to  be  in  pastures 
eating  green  grass  and  tin  cans. 

Then  they  have  discovered  that  we  are  the  most  senti 
mental  people  upon  the  earth.  Where  arguments  fail  and 
facts  cannot  convince,  an  appeal  to  one  of  our  traditional 
sentiments  or  an  old  phrase  backed  by  prejudice  moves  us 
into  action  howling  mad.  They  have  discovered  that  we 
are  totally  defenseless  against  all  appeals  to  religious  senti 
ment.  And  worst  of  all  that  we  have  a  pagan's  idea  in  a 
providence,  "our  providence,"  who  is  much  stronger  than 
the  providence  over  any  other  nation ;  and  though  we  defy 
all  reason  and  experience,  "our  providence,"  because  we 
are  Americans,  will  preserve  us  from  the  terrible  disasters 
that  have  always  befallen  the  foolish  and  careless  nations 
of  the  past. 

Along  all  of  these  easy  roads  she  has  marked  the  paths 
to  her  goal. 

The  campaign  for  the  Conquest  of  American  Opinion 
now  has  three  clear  features.  The  first  is  a  campaign  to 
discredit  the  intelligence  and  the  character  of  the  people 
of  California  and  thus  to  destroy  the  influence  of  the  solid 
verdict  which  that  State  has  rendered  against  the  Jap 
anese.  The  second  is  a  general  play  upon  American  ideals 
and  sentiments,  interpreting  them  all  on  Japan's  side  of 


THE  JAPANESE  PROBLEM  55 

the  case.  The  third  is  to  organise  the  pro-Japanese  senti 
ment  so  created  into  definite  propaganda  and  to  spread  it 
by  American  sympathisers  through  our  great  institutions 
that  reach  every  individual  in  the  land — through  the 
churches,  public  schools,  colleges,  the  public  press,  press 
bureaus  and  clubs  and  societies  made  to  order  for  the  pur 
pose.  In  promoting  all  these  lines  she  has  chosen  to  bring 
into  action  every  force  of  sectional  interest,  and  especially 
that  peculiar  prejudice,  ignorance  and  sectional  antago 
nism  which  the  far  "easterner,"  who  has  never  traveled  or 
studied  it  except  from  a  Pullman  window,  entertains  for 
the  mighty  new  world — The  West. 

American  sentiments  to  which  Japan  and  the  pro-Jap 
anese  appeal,  appear  over  and  over  repeatedly,  until  they 
have  a  formula  as  patent  as  a  proprietary  medicine. 
Taken  in  groups  these  appeals  may  be  classed  as:  Reli 
gious,  based  on  Theological  hypotheses ;  Social,  based  on 
peculiar  views  of  history  and  ancient  interpretation  of 
science;  Economic,  based  on  prospective  profits  to 
America;  Political,  based  on  expediency  and  peace. 
These  play  upon  the  whole  gamut  of  religion,  tradition, 
sentiment,  egotism,  love  of  money  and  snobbery  itself. 

The  sentiments  worked  upon  are — "All  men  are  equal" ; 
"America,  the  refuge  for  all";  "America,  the  hope  of  the 
world";  "America,  the  Melting  Pot";  "America,  the  land 
of  fair  play";  "Survival  of  the  fittest";  "Road  to  Uni 
versal  Peace";  "Japan  to  fuse  Occident  and  Orient"; 
"Federation  of  the  World" ;  "Follow  general  principles" ; 
"Subordinate  the  States";  "Exclusion  is  unchristian"; 
"Discrimination  is  unjust";  "We  must  admire  the  Japan 
ese";  "Manners,  thrift,  industry,  cleanliness  of  the  Jap 
anese"  ;  "Honour  bound  by  Treaty" ;  "We  must  avoid  all 
trouble" ;  "We  are  a  Christian  nation." 

Besides  a  play  on  these  sentiments  we  can  catalogue 
clearly  the  following  stock  arguments  with  all  that  per- 


56       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

tains  to  them — The  "War"  argument ;  The  "Peace"  argu 
ment;  "Time  will  solve"  argument;  "Traditional  friend 
ship"  argument;  "Trouble  unthinkable"  argument;  "What 
never  has  happened,  etc."  argument;  "Japan  is  very  poor" 
argument;  "Japan  is  overcrowded"  argument;  "Compar 
atively  few  in  California"  argument;  "All  nations  made 
of  one  blood"  argument;  "Japanese  are  not  Mongolians 
anyhow"  argument;  "Better  than  South  Europeans" 
argument;  "Not  an  aggressive  nation"  argument;  "Com 
mercial  welfare  and  advantage"  argument;  "Everybody 
knows  Japan  is  sincere"  argument. 

This  campaign  is  highly  scientific;  its  ultimate  results 
no  student  of  social  psychology  will  fail  to  see.  The 
appeals  to  these  sentiments,  the  forms  of  these  arguments, 
are  superficial  and  fallacious,  but,  continued  through  the 
agencies  now  employed,  they  will  soon  produce  a  set  of 
ideas  and  beliefs  which  will  be  accepted  without  debate. 
They  will  become  a  part  of  our  national  traditions  and 
Japan  will  have  completed  her  Conquest  of  American 
Opinion. 


PART  II 

FORCES  AND  METHODS  OF 
THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

"If  we  can  put  this  Gulick  program  over  in  the  other 
forty-seven  states  we  will  coerce  California  into  our  posi 
tion."  i 


*Mr.  Hamilton  Holt.  A  founder  of  the  Japan  Society  of  New 
York;  Chairman  of  the  Commission  on  Relations  with  Japan  in  the 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  IX 
MALIGNING  A  STATE 

A  CAMPAIGN  OF  VITUPERATION 

"CALIFORNIA  is  not  the  whole  United  States.  If  we  can 
put  Mr.  Gulick's  plan  over  in  the  other  forty-seven  states, 
we  will  coerce  California  into  our  position." 

That  statement,  made  to  the  writer  by  Hamilton  Holt, 
is  a  whole  history.  To  play  upon  American  sentiment,  to 
disparage  the  people  of  a  state,  and  undermine  her  stand 
ing  in  the  Union,  to  "put  Japan  over"  in  states  where  she 
is  not  known,  where  there  is  no  local  interest,  and  where 
the  people  are  still  asleep  on  this  question,  and  to  coerce 
the  people  of  a  section  of  the  country  by  sheer  preponder 
ance  of  number, — that  campaign  has  promise  of  success 
in  a  country  like  ours ! 

The  participants  in  this  campaign  all  play  upon  the 
same  ideas.  They  centre  the  fight  upon  California, 
although  Washington  has  a  stricter  law,  and  the  alien 
Japanese  do  not  own  a  foot  of  that  state.  California 
people  are  called  rough,  ignorant,  prejudiced,  of  the  dis 
credited  type  of  ruffian  miner  and  pistoled  cowboy,  bur 
lesqued  on  the  stage,  and  revived  with  greater  exaggera 
tion  in  the  moving  picture — types  which  long  since  have 
disappeared.  They  say  that  the  legislation  against  Jap 
anese  is  promoted  by  boodlers,  criminals,  professional 
agitators,  jingoes,  demagogues, — these  are  their  very 
words;  that  there  are  no  facts  to  justify  California's 
course;  that  it  is  brutal  and  unchristian;  that  it  will  lead 
to  a  boycott  of  America  in  Japan  and  great  commercial 
loss;  that  the  Japanese  will  never  forget  it  or  forgive  it, 
and  that  the  only  end  of  it  will  be  war. 

59 


60  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

This  appalling  program  to  malign  a  state  and  mislead  a 
nation  I  shall  now  present  in  detail. 

Mr.  Sidney  L.  Gulick  begins  by  impeaching  the  char 
acter  of  all  the  people.  He  says  that  they  are  incapable  of 
telling  the  truth :  "When  I  first  began  to  read  on  the  Jap 
anese  situation  in  California,  I  accepted  as  trustworthy 
the  statements  of  manifestly  able  writers.  Investigation 
of  many  specific  assertions,  however,  has  led  me  to  put  a 
question  mark  against  every  anti-Japanese  statement 
which  I  myself  have  not  verified." 

He  asks  America  to  adopt  his  New  Oriental  Policy  so 
that  "all  anti-Japanese  legislation  in  California  and  all 
other  states  would  at  once  be  void  and  all  future  legisla 
tion  impossible" ;  "it  would  provide  for  the  rights  of  aliens 
regardless  of  the  ignorance  and  prejudice  of  unfriendly 
localities/'  1 

He  assails  Peter  F.  McFarlane's  articles  in  Collier's  as 
unreliable,  and  the  facts  presented  by  C.  K.  McClatchky 
in  The  American  Citizen  as  faked.  He  says  of  the  state 
ments  of  United  States  Senator  Perkins,  "All  such  sweep 
ing  assertions  are  utterly  mistaken."  He  loves  phrases 
like  "rabid,  anti-Japanese  legislation  in  California/' 
"belligerent  utterances  of  her  irresponsible  student  and 
political  classes." 

He  will  not  accept  a  word  about  Japanese  life  and  char 
acter  from  one  who  has  not  lived  in  Japan,  and  he  repudi 
ates  the  estimate  of  Lafcadio  Hearn  who  lived  there,  mar 
ried  a  Japanese  woman  and.  reared  a  family  of  children. 
How  will  he  feel  now  about  the  truth  told  in  the  recent 
great  books  and  articles  by  Carl  Crow,2  Jefferson  Jones,3 
Thomas  F.  Millar d,4  and  Samuel  G.  Blythe — all  of  whom 

1  "The  American  Japanese  Problem." 

2Japan  and  America.    A  Contrast. 

zThe  Fall  of  Tsingtau. 

4  "The  Japanese  Menace,"  Century,  March,  1916. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 61 

had  lived  or  have  worked  as  responsible  newspaper  men 
in  Japan  and  China? 

He  says  that  Governor  Johnson  was  unfair  when  he 
took  Secretary  Bryan  out  to  see  the  Japanese  districts,  and 
the  men  to  whom  he  introduced  him  were  handpicked, 
ignorant  and  untruthful  witnesses;  that  Governor  John 
son,  the  Legislature  and  the  people  are  unAmerican ;  that 
the  California  press  is  yellow  and  full  of  fabrications.  No 
witness  for  California  goes  untouched;  even  Admiral 
Mahan,  whose  masterpieces  on  naval  science  revolution 
ised  the  naval  strategy  of  the  world  and  ranked  him  in 
all  nations  as  a  master  of  historical  philosophy,  he  sweeps 
overboard  with  a  wave  of  his  hand.  And  to  complete  his 
argument  he  declares  that  the  position  of  the  United 
States  toward  Asia  is  disgraceful;  the  Supreme  Court 
decisions  on  Asiatic  exclusion  are  unjust;  the  support  of 
California  by  the  administration  is  wrong. 

In  full  italics  he  says  of  the  land  bill :  "It  is  needless;  it 
is  shortsighted;  it  is  misleading;  it  is  a  disgrace  to  the 
United  States;  it  is  positively  injudicious;  it  is  unjust  and 
unkind;  it  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  all  American  treaties 
with  Japan;  it  is  hysterical;  it  is  unchristian."  So  he 
leads  you  to  believe  that  California  is  all  wrong,  and  has 
no  real  case  against  the  Japanese,  who  are  clean,  thrifty, 
industrious,  polite,  submissive,  loving,  greatly  developing 
and  aiding  the  state,  loving  the  country  and  yearning  to 
be  citizens  of  the  nation;  that  California  is  aggravating 
the  hate  of  Japan,  increasing  the  tension  between  these 
two  ever  friendly  nations,  and  leading  America  toward 
the  gravest  dangers. 

His  arraignment  includes  the  religion  and  the  morals 
of  the  people;  the  churches,  he  says,  are  ruled  by  racial 
hate;  deacons  who  welcome  Japanese  on  Sunday  are 
alleged  to  forbid  them  to  say  "good  morning"  on  Mon 
day;  some  Y.  M.  C.  A.'s  do  not  want  them.  California 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


family  life  is  so  bad  that  his  Japanese  friends  say  that 
Japanese  employed  as  domestics  "see  such  an  unfortunate 
side  of  American  life  that  it  would  be  better  for 
both  Japan  and  America  if  all  Japanese  domestic  service 
would  cease."  He  excuses  the  acknowledged  sexual 
immorality  of  Japanese  men  and  women  by  saying, 
"In  San  Francisco  is  disclosed  a  state  of  affairs  as  to 
the  relations  of  the  sexes  in  certain  classes  of  society 
in  comparison  with  which  the  Japanese  brothel  is  in 
nocence." 

Let  us  go  no  further.  These  are  the  arguments  Mr. 
Gulick  is  making  in  his  books,  and  in  his  articles  and 
addresses  so  widely  distributed,  as  will  be  shown  in  a  suc 
ceeding  chapter.  If  what  he  says  is  true,  California  is  the 
worst  enemy  America  ever  had;  if  it  is  not  true,  Mr. 
Gulick  is  the  worst  enemy  California  ever  had. 

Mr.  Hamilton  Holt  in  1914  wrote  a  pamphlet  entitled: 
Wanted,  A  Final  Solution  of  the  Japanese  Problem.  It 
was  distributed  as  a  special  bulletin  by  the  American  Asso 
ciation  for  International  Conciliation,  one  of  the  bene 
ficiaries  of  the  Carnegie  Endowment.  In  it  Mr.  Holt 
recounts  what  he  considers  America's  affronts  to  Japan  — 
in  which  many  Americans  come  in  for  a  strong  blow. 
"President  Roosevelt  immediately  after  the  California 
outbreak  sent  the  fleet  on  its  voyage  around  the  world  on 
a  'peace'  cruise,  but  in  reality  'to  impress'  Japan.  Japan 
turned  the  other  cheek  by  spending  a  million  dollars  to 
entertain  it."  Then  he  strikes  California  hard,  and  mixes 
up  the  Scripture  in  sentimental  flight:  "Here  were  a 
people  who  were  brutally  insulted  by  our  Pacific  Coast,  a 
people  we  called  'heathen'  and  sent  missionaries  to  Chris 
tianise,  actually  teaching  us  a  lesson  in  Christian  ethics. 
Though  we  all  but  drove  them  out  of  California,  they  met 
our  officers  and  men,  strewing  their  path  with  flowers. 
Though  we  excluded  them  from  our  schools,  they  suffered 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  63 

their  little  children  to  greet  us  singing  our  national 
hymn." 

Will  America  be  deceived  by  such  mawkish  sentiment 
and  perverted  truth  ? 

After  berating  several  Congressmen,  Senators  Lodge 
and  Dillingham,  Secretary  of  State  Knox  and  others  for 
trying  to  keep  alive  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  door 
open  in  China,  he  brings  in  the  climax.  "But  in  1913  our 
insults  reached  their  climax/' — the  anti-alien  land  law,  a 
"brutal  insult,"  "took  effect,  August  10,  despite  the 
strenuous  protest  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  the 
almost  unanimous  opposition  of  the  enlightened  sense  of 
the  nation." 

He  ends  his  narrative  with  this  scare :  "The  Japanese, 
as  I  have  said,  are  a  proud,  sensitive  and  self -controlled 
people.  But  the  Japanese  do  not  forget.  Let  no  one 
imagine  that  time  and  indifference  on  our  part  will  heal 
this  latest  wound." 

Mr.  Hamilton  Wright  Mabie  pays  these  compliments  to 
the  California  Legislature:  "Shortsighted  and  rough- 
handed  way  of  dealing  with  a  friendly  nation;"  "with  a 
sensitive  and  powerful  nation;"  "omitting  the  courtesies 
with  which  civilised  nations  approach  questions;"  "driv 
ing  the  anti-Japanese  bill  through  the  Legislature;" 
"there  was  no  immediate  occasion  for  each  legislation;" 
not  the  "slightest  danger  of  a  wave  of  Asiatic  immigra 
tion;"  "race  hatred  must  be  driven  beyond  the  pale  of 
civilisation;  it  is  a  survival  of  barbarism  and  must  go 
back  where  it  belongs." 

He  adds  the  usual  ominous  threat :  "Those  who  imagine 
that  the  crisis  has  passed  and  that  the  clouds  between  the 
two  countries  will  dissolve  in  thin  air,  do  not  know  the 
persistence  of  the  people  with  whom  they  are  dealing.  A 
Russian  military  writer  has  said  of  the  Japanese  that  they 
seem  to  have  mastered  all  kinds  of  tactics  except  those  of 


64       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

retreat.  Any  attempt  to  ignore  their  protests  and  trust 
to  time  to  heal  the  breach  will  disastrously  fail."  1 

In  1913  Jiuji  G.  Kasai,  who  is  now  engaged  by  one  of 
the  Japanese  press  bureaus  in  America,  won  the  first  prize 
in  oratory  in  the  University  of  Chicago,  using  an  oration 
entitled,  "The  Mastery  of  the  Pacific."  The  President  of 
the  University  gave  it  a  foreword,  and  it  was  published 
by  the  University  of  Chicago  "in  the  hope  of  advancing 
the  cause  of  friendship  and  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan."  This  is  interesting,  because  it  is  a 
perfect  type  of  the  Japanese  aggression.  It  represents 
their  system  of  shrewd  half-truths  and  positive  untruths, 
the  boldness  of  spirit  with  which  the  Japanese  assault 
California  in  our  own  country  on  all  occasions,  and  the 
indorsement  of  that  attack  in  all  its  virulent,  unjust  lan 
guage  by  Americans  of  high  class  who  know  nothing  of 
the  people  of  California  or  their  cause  and  are  totally  lost 
in  their  belief  in  the  Japanese. 

The  first  paragraphs  say :  "When,  a  few  years  ago,  we 
were  engaged  in  the  titanic  struggle  with  Russia,  you  gave 
us  hearty  sympathy  and  moral  support.  But  hardly  had 
we  fulfilled  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  the  liberty-lov 
ing  American  people  when  suddenly  there  came  the  cries 
of  jingoes  and  demagogues,  'Beware  of  the  Yellow  Peril ! 
Beware  of  Japan's  warlike  ambition  to  master  the  Pacific 
at  the  expense  of  the  United  States.'  Moreover,  the 
Japanese  have  been  discriminated  against,  subjected  to 
humiliation  and  injustice,  until  finally  the  recent  anti- 
Japanese  legislation  in  California  has  caused  an  embar 
rassment  to  both  National  Governments."  "That  this 
historic  bond  of  friendship  should  be  thus  threatened  by 
irresponsible  agitators  and  selfish  demagogues  is  a  crime, 
etc." 


lThe  Outlook,  August  2,  1913. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  65 

Because  California  does  not  want  an  Asiatic  popula 
tion,  he  quotes  the  worst  phrases  he  can  find  to  attack  her. 
"Is  this  American  freedom,  Russian  aristocracy,  or  Turk 
ish  subjugation  ?  At  the  behest  of  ignorance,  racial  hatred 
and  political  chicanery,  shall  California  permit  herself  to 
be  disgraced?"  * 

Kasai  says  that  Japan  is  a  peaceful  nation,  all  her  wars 
are  for  self  defence,  "not  for  aggrandisement  or  con 
quest.  For  generations  to  come  Japan  must  summon  all 
her  energies  for  the  development  of  Saghalien,  Korea  and 
Formosa."  Yet  before  that  was  written  she  had  forced  a 
war  on  China,  getting  her  first  foot-hold  on  the  Conti 
nent  ;  and  since  then  she  has  taken  Shantung  from  China, 
and  Kiao-chow  from  Germany,  when  neither  were  mak 
ing  any  offence  against  her;  she  has  fully  clinched  Man 
churia,  and  made  her  twenty-one  demands  on  all  China 
and  her  resources,  so  that  Tokio  practically  rules  that 
kingdom  to-day.  Yet  this  statement  of  Kasai  so  highly 
indorsed  is  not  three  years  old. 

The  usual  threat  follows :  "Such  an  ungenerous  attitude 
on  the  part  of  your  people  will,  I  fear,  seriously  imperil 
the  friendly  relations  between  our  two  countries.  How 
long  can  the  Japanese  people  who  hold  in  such  high  regard 
justice  and  honour,  patiently  bear  such  continual  irritation 
and  injustice?" 

His  plan  to  adjust  these  difficulties  is  at  least  ingenious 
—"From  those  of  us  who  are  now  in  America  Japan  will 
draw  her  future  leaders,  and  America  can  send  to  Japan 
no  better  ambassadors  than  these  (Japanese)  young  men 
and  women" ! ! 

Is  it  possible  that  an  American  University  promotes  this 
vicious  attack,  this  warlike  threat,  this  absurd  proposal  in 
the  interest  of  "friendship  and  peace"  ? 

xQuoted  from  Miss  Alice  M.  Brown. 


66       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

One  California  woman,  Alice  M.  Brown,  has  added  a 
chapter  to  this  volume  of  vituperation  which  the  Japanese 
propagandists  are  scattering  over  the  land.  It  is  a  pam 
phlet  entitled  "Education  not  Legislation."  It  decries 
hate,  but  it  is  pitifully  bitter  in  its  exhibit  of  hate  for  those 
who  are  opposed  to  her  own  Japanese  love.  The  Legis 
lature,  she  says,  "was  a  body  of  men  racemad,"  animated 
by  the  "violent  passions  of  barbaric  men."  She  says  it 
does  not  represent  the  farmers  of  the  state — a  statement 
completely  refuted  by  the  recent  book  of  Mr.  Millis.  On 
one  page  she  says  the  Japanese  occupy  "but  a  pinch"  of 
California,  on  another  that  to  interfere  with  their  lands 
will  "play  havoc  with  our  industrial  and  commercial 
spheres."  She  appeals  frequently  "to  history,  eugenics, 
science,  justice,  humanitarism,"  in  defence  of  Japanese 
immigration,  citizenship  and  intermarriage,  and  exposes 
what  she  knows  about  these  by  this  appalling  reversion  of 
the  facts  of  history:  "The  history  of  all  nations  is  the 
history  of  the  attempts  to  repulse  the  stranger  at  the 
gate,  the  final  absorption  of  the  one  by  the  other,  and  the 
raising  of  the  nation  to  a  higher  level  and  greater  strength. 
This  we  know,  that  whatever  is  best  will  prevail."  Oh 
Greece,  Rome,  and  Novgorod! 

Against  this  her  opinion  of  April  27,  1913,  I  set  the 
opinion  of  Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler,  President  of  the  Uni 
versity  of  California,  as  reported  in  the  New  York  Times, 
May  21,  1913: 

"In  an  interview,  Dr.  Wheeler  said  that  the  attitude  of 
the  state  of  California  on  the  alien  land  question,  in  his 
opinion,  was  justified.  If  an  alien  land  bill  had  not  passed 
he  believed  that  California  would  have  left  the  hands  of  its 
natives,  and  in  a  very  few  years  practically  would  have  been 
owned  by  the  Japanese. 

"  'Sensational  reports/  he  said,  'had  led  to  an  uneasy 
feeling  here,  but  you  will  find  that  this  will  be  a  question 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  67 

for  diplomatic  settlement.  There  are  no  demagogues  in  the 
State  Legislature.  They  are  men,  who,  in  my  opinion,  hon 
estly  represent  the  people.  Governor  Johnson  is  popular  all 
over  California,  and  the  people  will  support  him  in  his  stand/ 
"Dr.  Wheeler  has  lived  in  California  for  fourteen  years." 

This  pamphlet  by  Miss  Alice  M.  Brown  prepared  in  the 
heat  of  passion,  bitter,  knowledge-reversing,  which  totally 
misrepresents  the  state,  is  still  distributed  everywhere  and 
quoted  by  the  Japanese  and  pro-Japanese  more  than  is  the 
statement  of  any  other  Calif ornian,  perhaps  as  much  as 
all  others  combined. 

Kasai  quotes  her  in  his  oration,  which  he  used  as  a  lec 
ture  in  New  England.  Kawakami  quotes  her  over  and 
over  in  his  book,  until,  in  different  places,  for  different 
purposes,  he  has  used  quite  completely  her  pamphlet  and 
one  magazine  article.  Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Millis  cite  her 
in  their  books.  This  counter  citation  of  this  group,  one 
to  another  as  authorities,  is  a  distinct  feature  of  the  con 
quest.  Gulick,  Kawakami,  Millis,  Scudder,  Mabie,  Alice 
M.  Brown,  Holt,  Peabody,  and  Griffis  have  a  perfct  net 
work  of  cross  references. 

K.  K.  Kawakami,  the  most  voluminous  of  Japanese 
writers  on  this  subject,  contributes  largely  to  this  cam 
paign.  It  would  require  a  whole  volume  to  cite  and 
analyse  the  Oriental  methods  he  employs,  but  we  must 
take  in  him  a  glance  at  the  Oriental  mind. 

For  instance,  he  begins  on  Governor  Johnson  thus :  "I 
have  always  been,  and  still  am,  a  sincere  admirer  of 
Governor  Johnson,  etc."  1  Second  step :  "Yet  they  tell 
me  the  Progressive  Governor  of  California,  seeing  that 
his  influence  was  waning,  was  anxious  to  regain  his  popu 
larity  by  catering  to  the  wishes  of  the  labouring  class."  2 

1Asia  at  the  Door. 
'Ibid. 


68  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

[This  impeaches  the  Governor's  integrity  and  his 
motives.]  Third  step:  On  the  Governor's  reply  to  the 
President :  "As  a  piece  of  logical  argument  it  is  a  splendid 
document,  yet  there  are  arguments  which,  however  log 
ical,  terse,  and  vigorous  in  expression,  fall  flat  and  we 
fear  that  Mr.  Johnson's  reply  to  the  President  was  at  best 
a  fine  example  of  such  arguments.  He  could  silence  his 
opponents,  but  not  convince  them.  To  those  who  knew 
the  inside  story  of  the  political  game  at  Sacramento,  the 
Governor's  argument  is  far  from  convincing."  1  In  this 
he  accuses  him  of  sheer  political  trickery  and  subter 
fuge. 

In  like  manner  he  damns  the  state;  (A),  the  praise, 
(B),  the  handy  theory,  (C),  the  rabid  judgment. 

(A)  "Not  only  has  California  astonished  the  world 
with  the  rapidity  of  its  material  progress,  but  is  marching 
abreast  with  the  most  advanced  states  in  the  field  of  learn 
ing  and  arts.    Her  higher  institutions  of  learning  are  the 
pride  of  the  nation,  and  even  in  Arts  and  Music  she  has 
made  remarkable  records."  2 

(B)  The  handy  theory:  "Perhaps  the  climate  of  Cali 
fornia  too  has  had  some  influence  in  developing  a  peculiar 
type  of  'mass  psychology.'    Professor  Steiner3  thinks  that 
this  climate  is  responsible  for  the  mental  habit  of  exag 
geration  commonly  observed   in   California.      [Gulick's 
charge,  repeated.]     Now  the  climate  of  California  is  a 
sort  of  climate  that  strengthens  the  passions  and  sends 
them  wild  for  excitement.     Not  only  does  this  climate 
quicken  the  pulse  and  the  temper,  but  it  gave  birth  to  that 


,  page  170. 

zlbid.,  page  145. 

3Professor  E.  A.  Steiner,  Teacher  of  Applied  Christianity  at 
Grinnell  University,  Iowa.  An  ardent  believer  in  making  America  a 
veritable  Melting  Pot. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  69 

peculiar  human  being  called  the  'hoodlum'."  "While  the 
climate  of  California  is  congenial  to  the  existence  of  the 
hoodlum,  conditions  were  such  as  to  swell  the  tide  of  law 
less  elements." *  Isn't  that  a  crafty  process  drawn 
through  many  pages  to  leave  the  impression  that  the 
people  are  hoodlums  and  lawless  ? 

(C)  Then  by  this  gentle  transition  he  leads  to  this  con 
demnation  : 

"The  law  is  decidedly  un-American.  It  is  enacted 
merely  to  throttle  the  legitimate  aspirations  of  the  Jap 
anese;  to  keep  the  Japanese  farmers  in  a  state  of  serfdom; 
to  fan  the  prejudice  which  is  being  constantly  exploited  by 
the  jealous  and  ignorant/'  "What  heresy,  what  perfidy 
to  attempt  to  trample  upon  the  sacred  legacy  of  our 
revered  sires,  and  to  destroy  the  legacy  upon  which  the 
great  democracy  stands !"  "The  majority  of  American 
newspapers  and  of  fair-minded  Americans  turned  a  solid 
phalanx  to  the  legislators  of  California  and  denounced 
their  selfishness  and  bigotry.  A  minister  declares  from 
his  pulpit:  'The  California  land  bill  is  something  that 
would  disgrace  hell  in  its  palmiest  days.  It  is  a  piece  of 
political  perfidy  and  rotten  state's  rights,  of  proverbial 
buncombe  and  of  a  rare  and  religious  bigotry  that  makes 
the  Oriental  heathen  a  Christian  saint  in  comparison. 
What  a  lovely  example  of  low-browed,  hard  hearted  pro 
vincialism  r 

"When  we  think  of  this  frank  and  fearless  expression," 
says  Kawakami,  "we  realize  that  the  spirit  of  America  is 
not  dead,  that  the  glory  and  greatness  of  the  Republic  are 
not  a  thing  of  the  past ! !" 

At  the  hands  of  Dr.  E.  A.  Steiner  the  attack  on  the 
people  takes  another  form.  I  quote  from  Kawakami, 
page  154,  Asia  at  the  Door. 


1Asia  at  the  Door,  page  159. 


70 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

"Dr.  E.  A.  Steiner,1  one  of  the  foremost  authorities  on 
the  immigration  problem,  in  a  recent  address  in  St.  Louis, 
sees  the  real  menace  for  California,  not  in  Oriental  immi 
gration  but  in  the  ebbing  energy  of  its  citizens.  The 
pioneers  of  California  who  conquered  all  obstacles  offered 
by  nature,  were  energetic,  undaunted,  and  willing  to  toil. 
But  the  present  generation,  Dr.  Steiner  points  out,  is  be 
ginning  to  seek  pleasure,  avoid  parenthood,  and  shirk  hard 
work  and  many  Calif ornians  plainly  admit  that  their 
young  men  no  longer  soil  their  hands  with  the  tilling  of 
the  earth,  but  migrate  to  cities  in  quest  of  gentleman's 
work  and  easy  money.  Some  writers  go  even  so  far  as 
to  assert  that  this  very  symptom  of  weakness  on  the  part 
of  California  is  one  of  the  causes  which  brought  about  the 
agitation  against  the  Japanese." 

Dr.  E.  A.  Steiner  cannot  be  accepted  as  an  "authority" 
on  this  question — if  in  any  department  of  immigration. 
He  is  an  extremely  sentimental  and  emotional  writer  on 
that  subject.  To  disprove  his  theory  of  declining  energy 
in  California  one  needs  but  cite  the  wonderful  rebound  of 
energy  of  San  Francisco,  which  rebuilt  a  city  in  three 
years;  of  Los  Angeles,  in  the  development  of  business, 
and  the  recent  municipal  construction  of  an  aqueduct 
250  miles  long  over  mountains  and  through  granite,  the 
greatest  feat  of  its  kind  in  the  world,  done  on  record  time, 
without  a  hint  of  graft.  Surely  these  are  instances  of 
conquering  obstacles  offered  by  nature.  The  unequalled 
energy  of  San  Diego  in  maintaining  the  present  Exposi 
tion,  at  the  time  of  the  Panama  Exposition;  the  un 
equalled  greatness  of  the  Panama  Exposition  in  size, 
cost,  art,  beauty,  length  of  duration  and  financial  triumph ; 

^is  position  on  immigration,  the  Melting  Pot  idea,  is  diametrically 
opposed  to  that  of  such  eminent  sociologists  as  E.  A.  Ross  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin  and  Professor  Fairchild  of  Yale,  who  are 
real  authorities. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  71 

the  unequalled  development  of  the  high  school  system  and 
equipments  of  the  state ;  the  increased  interest  of  the  boys 
and  girls  in  agriculture,  horticulture  and  marine  subjects, 
manual  arts  and  sciences;  the  quadrupled  enrollment  in 
our  agricultural  schools  at  the  University;  the  numbers 
of  our  University  men  and  women  who  go  from  college 
directly  to  work  on  the  ranches.  Mr.  Crissey,  of  the 
Saturday  Evening  Post,  declares  that  our  co-operative 
organisations  for  farmers  are  the  most  efficient  in  the 
nation  and  the  best  models  of  large  co-operations  in 
marketing  and  selling  in  any  line  in  the  world. 

But  though  some  of  our  boys  and  girls  may  go  to  towns 
and  cities,  as  they  do  everywhere,  they  do  not  lose  nor 
lack  the  energy  to  make  our  municipal  development  the 
finest  in  America.  Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff  established 
this  fact : 

"Two  years  ago  a  special  committee  of  the  National 
Municipal  League  gathered  the  reports  of  all  the  leagues, 
of  municipalities,  conferences  of  mayors  and  similar 
organisations,  and  also  various  other  information  regard 
ing  the  activities  and  history  of  these  organisations. 

"It  was  the  opinion  of  the  committee  that  the  best  and 
most  effective  league  was  the  California  League  of  Mu 
nicipalities,  and  that  it  constituted  the  highest  develop 
ment  of  such  organisations  yet  seen  in  the  United 
States." 

These  facts  overwhelm  Dr.  Steiner.  His  opinion  on 
loss  of  energy  is  reversed  by  an  exhibit  of  increased 
energy.  His  charge  that  our  women  refuse  parenthood  is 
equally  baseless,  and  reveals  the  length  to  which  the  pro- 
Japanese  will  go  to  discredit  our  people. 

This  brings  us  to  consider  another  phase  of  the  cam 
paign  of  disparagement  through  the  platform  and  the 

*The  American  City,  June,  1914. 


72       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

pulpit.  The  Federal  Council  of  Churches  asks  every 
Christian  minister  to  preach  on  peace  on  a  certain  Sun 
day  in  May  called  "Peace  Day."  They  are  instructed  on 
the  Japanese  question  in  the  notifications.  Dr.  Doremus 
E.  Scudder,  a  Director  of  the  Council,  says,  'That  which 
faces  us  on  Peace  Sunday  as  a  Christian  people  is  a  single 
question,  'What  is  our  nation's  duty  to  Japan?'  The 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  has  only  one  answer  to  the  ques 
tion  What  is  our  nation's  duty  to  Japan?;  it  is  to  apply 
that  word  'all  men  are  brethren'  to  our  dealings  with  the 
man  whom  our  nation  calls  'Mongolian' ;  open  our  priv 
ilege  of  naturalisation  to  him  on  equal  terms  with  the 
European." 

Thus  it  appears  that  Peace  Sunday  is  a  movement  in 
the  Christian  Church  utilised  by  the  Federal  Council  in 
the  interest  of  Japanese  citizenship  and  intermarriage. 
Dr.  Scudder  says,  "In  this  day  of  human  solidarity,  when 
we  are  learning  how  intricately  races  have  blended,  and 
how  truly  alike  physically  and  spiritually  we  all  are,  it  is 
impossible  to  draw  such  lines  as  Mongolian,  white  or 
black." 

The  easiest  thing  the  lecturers  and  ministers  can  do 
who  follow  this  lead  and  who  have  seen  only  the  Japanese 
propaganda,  (and  there  is  very  little  else  to  be  seen)  is  to 
discredit  western  people.  A  certain  Rabbi  and  lecturer 
appeared  before  a  great  meeting  of  public  school  teachers 
in  an  eastern  city.  He  was  presented  to  the  audience  as 
a  distinguished  advocate  of  peace,  to  deliver  a  lecture  on 
"A  Chosen  People."  The  first  half  of  it  was  a  fine  essay 
on  the  idea  of  genius  in  men  and  nations,  each  genius  as 
chosen  of  heaven  for  a  special  service  to  the  world.  He 
then  turned  to  the  idea  of  peace — America  the  genius 
nation  chosen  of  heaven  to  bring  peace.  And  before  I 
could  realise  where  he  would  lead,  he  was  describing  the 
cry  of  Rome  against  Carthage,  "Carthage  must  be  de- 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 73 

stroyed,"  and  showed  what  havoc  it  brought  to  both  cities. 
Then  after  he  had  thus  opened  the  soul  of  fifteen  hundred 
people  to  throbbing  emotions  against  that  Roman  cry,  he 
cried  aloud  with  strong  indignation :  "And  now  we  have 
in  America  a  Rome  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  It  is  California 
crying,  'Japan  must  be  destroyed !  We  must  have  a  war 
with  Japan !  Japan  must  be  destroyed !' '  And  he  pro 
ceeded  to  call  down  upon  the  state  the  dire  denunciation 
of  the  whole  country. 

At  the  close  of  the  lecture  I  walked  to  the  platform  and 
joined  the  group  of  people  who  had  pressed  forward  to 
be  presented  to  him.  When  he  asked  how  I  liked  the 
lecture,  I  replied,  "The  first  half  was  academic  and  fine, 
the  second  half  was  vicious  and  malicious.  Your  lecture 
can  have  but  one  result, — To  misrepresent  California;  to 
create  sectional  prejudice  against  her;  to  encourage  Japan 
in  her  campaign;  to  involve  America  in  a  great  contro 
versy,  if  not  ultimate  disaster." 

"But  California  has  no  right  to  involve  us  in  war." 

"California  wants  war  less  than  you  do.  We  should 
suffer  first  and  suffer  most  in  such  a  war.  I  defy  you  to 
show  me  where  any  Calif ornian  or  the  California  press 
has  raised  the  cry  of  Rome.  Where  did  you  ever  see  or 
hear  such  a  cry?" 

"That  is  what  the  news  reports  are,  and  I  only  said 
That  is  what  the  reports  are !' ' 

"No,  pardon  me,  you  spoke  it  without  modification. 
But  even  had  you  so  modified  it,  the  effect  would  have 
been  the  same.  Have  you  a  right  to  make  a  charge 
against  a  whole  state  on  mere  report  ?  And  do  you  really 
know  what  this  Japanese  problem  is  about  ?  Do  you  know 
what  California's  contention  is?" 

"No,  not  exactly,  it  is  something  about  land  owner 
ship.  But  we  can't  have  a  war  with  Japan !  You  people 
have  no  right  to  cause  this  trouble." 


74       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

"But  suppose  Japan  is  wrong  and  California  is  right, 
what  then?" 

"But  she  isn't  right." 

"You've  just  said  you  don't  know  the  case.  If  Cali 
fornia  is  right,  what  then?" 

"Well,  then,  that  would  be  different." 

This  is  not  an  extreme  instance  of  the  common  attack. 

The  next  night  it  was  my  privilege  to  address  the  same 
audience.  I  related  this  incident  and  presented  the  prob 
lem  as  it  is,  and  when  the  audience  understood  the  whole 
matter,  there  was  emphatic  reversal  of  their  opinion  of  the 
night  before. 

But  this  Rabbi  lectures  constantly  and  many  others 
deliver  similar  lectures.  Hamilton  Holt  told  me  concern 
ing  his  lecture  on  Peace,  for  which  he  is  paid  by  Mr. 
Carnegie, — "I  always  bring  in  a  little  in  favour  of 
Japan."  Hundreds,  thousands,  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  such  sermons  and  addresses  are  being  given.  They  are 
rapidly  producing  a  general  notion  in  America  which  once 
established  will  be  acted  upon  without  debate  and  even 
without  inquiry  into  the  manner  and  the  sources  of  its 
origin. 

I  have  heard  many  discredit  California  because  she  has 
in  her  population  a  large  number  of  people  from  the 
Southern  States.  Mr.  Millis  cites  this  fact  as  in  part 
responsible  for  the  anti-Asiatic  position  taken.  Mr. 
Kawakami  does  also.  Thus  an  old  sectional  prejudice  is 
stirred  to  life.  To  illustrate  this  spirit,  here  is  a  true  inci 
dent.  The  writer  was  discussing  this  problem  with  a 
group  of  highly  refined  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  a  city  in 
North  Dakota.  Among  them  was  a  rector  of  decided 
English  characteristics,  who  has  rendered  fine  service  as 
a  missionary  to  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest.  The  dis 
cussion  had  run  into  the  morning  hours  when  this  rector, 
in  simple,  innocent  expression  of  a  prejudice  he  is  unaware 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  75 

he  possesses,  came  up  with  this  outburst :  "Well,  what 
can  we  expect  of  you !  You  are  a  resident  of  California, 
and  you  admit  that  your  mother  was  a  Virginian,  and  so 
you  are  also  Southern!" 

"And  what,  pray,"  I  answered,  "is  wrong  with  the  Vir 
ginian,  that  he  may  not  think  truly  on  great  questions 
and  be  true  to  American  interests  ?  What  state  has  done 
so  much  to  make  America  what  it  is  as  has  Virginia? 
Representative  government  was  born  in  her  House  of 
Burgesses — the  first  assembly  of  its  kind  in  the  world. 
She  holds  the  Cradle  of  Liberty,  for  within  a  few  miles  of 
where  that  mother  was  born,  Patrick  Henry  raised  his 
voice  against  the  divine  right  of  kings  and  the  tyranny  of 
George  III.  One  of  her  sons,  Thomas  Jefferson,  wrote 
the  Declaration  of  Independence;  another,  George  Wash 
ington,  led  the  armies  that  won  it;  they  with  Madison, 
and  Monroe,  and  Henry,  and  the  Lees,  framed  the  Con 
stitution;  Washington  guided  the  Convention  that 
adopted  it,  and  all  laboured  until  it  was  ratified  by  all  the 
colonies.  Virginia  gave  America  twenty-four  years  out 
of  the  first  twenty-eight  years  of  Presidential  direction  of 
the  young  Government,  fighting  and  winning  the  second 
war  of  Independence.  The  diplomacy  and  exploration 
of  her  sons  like  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Rogers  and  Clark 
added  more  area  to  our  national  domain  than  was  added 
by  all  our  other  statesmen  combined;  another,  James 
Monroe,  pronounced  the  doctrine  which  has  preserved  the 
Western  Hemisphere  from  European  exploitation  and 
wars  for  a  hundred  years.  Virginians,  and  their  kindred 
people  of  the  South,  these  are  true  Americans,  preserving 
in  blood,  brain  and  spirit  the  pure  material  from  which 
America  was  made.  Welcome,  all  such,  to  California!" 

In  this  crucifixion  of  a  state,  let  its  citizens  look  with 
forgiving  grace  upon  the  maligners,  crying  only,  "For 
give  them,  they  know  not  what  they  do." 


76  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Let  us  bring  this  unhappy  chapter  to  an  end  in  a  truer, 
sweeter  picture  drawn  by  Frederick  M.  Davenport  in  his 
article  in  The  Outlook,  August  4,  1915,  entitled  "The 
Farthest  Outpost  of  Advancing  Democracy — California." 

THE  FARTHEST  OUTPOST  OF  ADVANCING  DEMOCRACY — 
CALIFORNIA 

"The  air  and  soil  and  far-flung  resources  and  oppor 
tunity  of  blending  of  enterprising  native  stocks  in  the  com 
monwealth  of  California  have  made  already  of  the  modest 
figure  of  the  pioneer  a  strong,  valiant,  confident,  conquering 
exponent  of  advancing  democracy.  The  most  definite 
impression  which  the  California  of  the  present  day  makes 
upon  you  is  that  of  a  tremendous  physical  and  mental  and 
an  increasing  moral  vitality.  There  are  many  elements 
which  make  for  unity.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  popu 
lation  is  of  the  restless  and  enterprising  pioneer  strain 
which  hails  from  the  Eastern  and  Middle  Western  United 
States.  Particularly  in  the  southern  part  of  California  there 
are  Kansas  Societies  and  Iowa  Societies  and  Massachusetts 
Societies,  and  many  others,  with  memberships  running  far 
into  thousands.  They  have  not  forgotten  whence  they 
sprang,  but  they  are  Calif ornians  to  the  core,  and  aggressive 
and  united  for  a  better  economic  and  political  and  social 
order  for  their  adopted  state. 

"But  there  is  variety  with  the  unity.  You  can  trace  in 
motion  all  the  currents  and  the  cross-currents  of  a  powerful 
democratic  empire.  The  men  and  the  women  of  the  second 
generation  seem  physically  above  the  American  average  in 
stature  and  in  strength,  and  the  forces,  both  individual  and 
social,  which  have  been  set  in  motion  within  this  common 
wealth  are  unquestionably  fraught  with  potency  for  the 
whole  country.  And  the  result  of  the  development  there 
taking  place  is  sure  to  have  an  important  bearing  upon  the 
future  of  American  democracy.  .  .  . 

"California  now  easily  leads  the  long  roll  of  our  democratic 
commonwealths.  Her  climate,  her  resources,  her  vitality, 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 77 

her  mingling  of  sturdy  native  stocks,  her  enterprise,  her 
opportunities  for  leisure,  her  liking  for  expert  efficiency, 
her  illuminating  experience  with  the  powers  of  political 
darkness,  all  fit  her  for  a  higher  than  Athenian  citizenship. 
Certainly  she  has  the  capacity  and  the  environment  to  be  to 
the  rest  of  the  United  States  more  than  Athens  was  to  the 
sister  states  of  Greece." 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH 

SIDNEY  L.  GULICK  AND  "THE  NEW  ORIENTAL  POLICY" 

Do  one  hundred  thousand  ministers  of  America  know 
that  they  are  committed  en  masse  to  a  definite  campaign 
to  give  the  Japanese  the  rights  of  American  citizenship? 

Do  seventeen  million  members  of  all  our  Christian 
denominations  know  that  they  are  contributing  regularly 
to  promote  the  mixing  of  all  Asiatics  with  our  race  in  our 
country  by  means  of  citizenship,  and  social  assimilation, 
the  amount  levied  and  paid  annually  being  one  dollar  for 
each  thousand  members  ? 

Do  the  political  parties  of  America  know  that  the  Fed 
eral  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  repre 
senting  the  aforesaid  ministers  and  members,  has  adopted, 
presented  to  the  government,  and  is  promoting  a  definite 
program  on  immigration  and  Oriental  relations  com 
pletely  reversing  the  present  status,  upon  the  conceptions 
of  one  man  who  for  nearly  thirty  years  has  lived  in  Japan  ? 

Do  our  one  hundred  million  American  people  of  all 
religions  and  no  religion  know  that  these  one  hundred 
thousand  ministers  and  seventeen  .million  members  are 
being  systematically  schooled  in  this  program  and  pledged 
to  this  campaign  under  the  cloak  of  its  being  the  only  right 
interpretation  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ? 

Who  is  the  man?  What  is  the  program?  By  whom 
and  how  is  this  campaign  conducted  ? 

Mr.  Sidney  L.  Gulick,  M.  A.,  D.D.,  is  the  man.  He 
gives  his  address  as  Japan,  "professor  in  Doshisha  Uni 
versity  and  lecturer  in  the  Imperial  University  of 

78 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  79 

Kyoto."  1  He  was  born  in  1860  in  the  Marshall  Islands, 
of  missionary  parents,  and  reared  in  the  Orient  with 
adopted  Oriental  children  whom  he  regarded  as  his  kin. 
Educated  in  America,  he  returned  to  Japan  about  thirty 
years  ago  as  a  missionary.  He  is  in  love  with  Japanese 
ideals,  has  acquired  the  Japanese  language,  and  has  mas 
tered  their  form  of  argumentation.  He  is  the  author  of 
several  books  on  the  Japanese,  all  highly  laudatory  of 
their  virtues  and  apologetic  for  their  possible  shortcom 
ings.  If  he  admits  that  truth  and  chastity  and  other 
virtues  form  little  part  of  their  moral  code,  he  explains 
away  those  defects  by  blaming  them  on  their  origin,  and 
overbalances  the  deficiency  by  other  virtues  for  which 
they  are  alleged  to  surpass  the  world. 

His  most  important  volume  on  the  American-Japanese 
problem  is  an  arraignment  of  the  intelligence  and  morality 
of  the  people  of  California  and  other  states  for  recent 
legislation  which  affects  the  Japanese  in  America.  But 
especially  he  outlines  and  promotes  what  he  terms  "A 
New  Oriental  Policy."  Since  January  i,  1914,  while  on 
a  furlough  from  Japan,  he  has  been  in  the  employ  of  the 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  at  a  salary  of 
three  thousand  dollars  per  year  and  expenses.  His  serv 
ices  consist  in  writing  books,  articles  and  tracts,  and 
delivering  addresses  under  the  most  influential  auspices — 
all  to  promote  his  New  Oriental  Policy.  These  facts  and 
those  to  follow  are  derived  from  his  writings,  from  the 
Annual  Reports  of  the  Federal  Council,  and  will  be  sus 
tained  by  direct  quotations  therefrom. 

What  is  this  New  Oriental  Policy? 

The  quotations  taken  from  his  books  will  outline  it 
sufficiently,  although  he  uses  twenty-five  pages  to  outline 
it  and  about  280  pages  to  sustain  it. 


lThe  American  Japanese  Problem — title  page. 


80  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

In  his  term  Oriental  are  embraced  "the  eight  hundred 
millions  of  Asia,"  about  one-half  of  the  population  of  the 
earth,  all  of  whom  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
are  now  and  always  have  been  aliens  who  cannot  become 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  This  status  of  theirs  is  the 
concrete  result  of  the  wisdom  of  American  statesmen  for 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  years,  beginning  with  George 
Washington's  first  recommendation  for  a  naturalisation 
code.  Mr.  Gulick  says : 

1 i )  "The  present  Oriental  policy  of  the  United  States 
as  a  whole  is  in  important  respects  humiliating  to  the 
Oriental  and  disgraceful  to  us." 

(2)  "We  should  grant  the  Asiatics  in  this  land  the 
same  privileges  which  we  grant  to  the  citizens  of  'the  most 
favoured  nations.'  ' 

This  would  give  the  Chinese,  Japanese,  Hindoos, 
Syrians,  Koreans,  and  all  the  Mongolians  and  Malays  of 
Asia  and  its  islands  the  full  rights  of  American  citizen 
ship  and  equal  social  rights  of  intermarriage  with  the 
white  race. 

(3)  "A  new  general  immigration  law  is  needed  which 
shall  apply  impartially  to  all  races.     We  must  abandon 
all  differential  Asiatic  treatment  even  as  regards  immi 
grants." 

(4)  "A   fresh  definition  of  eligibility   for  American 
citizenship  is  needed.     Race  should  not  be  a  disqualifica 
tion  of  citizenship." 

(5)  "Direct   Federal   responsibility   in   all   legal   and 
legislative  matters  involving  aliens  is  essential." 

(6)  "It  logically  follows  that  legal  proceedings  involv 
ing  aliens  should  be  handled  exclusively  in  Federal  and 
not  in  state  courts." 

This  would  require  the  total  revision  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  regarding  functions  of  State 
and  Nation,  taking  from  the  states  and  giving  to  the 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 81 

nation  all  the  rights  of  land  laws,  deeds,  conveyances, 
leases  and  all  laws  of  domestic  relations  of  marriage, 
parentage,  divorce,  inheritance;  and  all  business  relations 
in  which  an  alien  may  be  a  party;  and  an  entire  revision 
of  our  Judiciary  pertaining  to  those. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  New  Oriental  Policy  pivots  all 
American  government,  not  upon  our  own  citizens,  but 
upon  the  viewpoint  of  the  Oriental  alien. 

(7)  "A  national  commission  on  biological  and  social 
assimilation  is  needed." 

This  is  to  establish  his  theories  of  intermarriage  of 
races,  "social  inheritance"  and  "social  assimilation,"  to 
which  he  devotes  about  a  hundred  pages.  In  one  chapter 
toward  the  end  of  his  treatise  he  declares  himself  opposed 
to  intermarriage  of  races.  Yet  he  approves  all  the  indi 
vidual  instances — Japanese  who  have  married  white  girls, 
mentioning  Takamine,  Fukushima,  Oaki,  Kawakami,  all 
of  whom  he  indorses  and  each  of  whom  indorses  him,  and 
who  are  engaged  in  this  campaign  for  race  mixture. 
Kawakami,  head  of  the  Japanese  Association  of  America, 
comes  out  openly  for  intermarriage  and  cites  Dr.  Gulick 
as  one  of  the  best  friends  of  the  Japanese  cause.  Dr. 
Gulick  uses  many  pages  of  pictures  to  show  the  results  of 
these  marriages,  and  one  hundred  pages  to  prove  the 
assimilability  of  Orientals.  This  form  of  argument,  the 
academic  denial  of  a  general  principle  coupled  with  the 
hearty  support  of  its  concrete  facts  is  a  fair  illustration 
of  what  President  Charles  W.  Eliot  calls  Oriental  dissim 
ulation. 

(8)  "Regulation  of  international  news  should  be  an 
integral  part  of  the  New  Oriental  Policy.     To  suppress 
the  suspicions,  exaggeration,  and  even  malicious  fabri 
cations  of  unresponsible  news  mongers — the  Yellow  Press 
is  the  real  Yellow  Peril." 

Let  the  American  Press  take  note. 


82  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Mr.  Gulick  says  this  New  Oriental  Policy  will  produce 
these  results : 

(a)  "Existing  anti-Japanese  legislation  in  California 
and  all  other  states  would  at  once  be  void  and  all  future 
legislation  be  impossible." 

(b)  It  would  provide  for  the  "rights  of  aliens  regard 
less  of  the  ignorance  and  prejudice  of  unfriendly  local 
ities." 

(c)  "The  Japanese  government  would  be  intensely 
gratified."    "It  would  also  satisfy  and  even  please  Japan." 

(d)  "America  would  rightly  be  called  the  'melting  pot 
of  the  nations,'  from  which  we  may  expect  the  advent  of 
astonishing  variants.    Would  we  not  be  gainers  by  includ 
ing  Asiatic  ore  in  this  great  melting  pot?" 

(e)  "The  condition  most  favourable  for  race  assimila 
tion  is  that  which  arises  when  an  alien  father  enters  into 
the  civilisation  of  the  mother  and  is  accepted  by  her 
kindred."    "Where  such  ideal  conditions  can  be  assured,  it 
would  probably  make  no  difference  whether  the  father 
were  Hindoo,  Chinese,  Japanese,  Arab,  or  Negro." 

(%f )  "The  early  adoption  of  some  such  policy  is  impor 
tant;  there  is  every  reason  to  anticipate  further  anti-Jap 
anese  legislation  in  California  with  the  next  session  of 
its  Legislature,  which  meets  in  1915." 

One  would  not  think  that  so  radical  and  difficult  a  pro 
cedure  would  secure  any  serious  indorsement  by  the  great 
men  of  America.  Mr.  Gulick's  book  was  printed  in 
March,  1914,  yet  he  wanted  all  this  radical  legislation 
completed  before  the  California  Legislature  could  meet 
in  January,  1915,  and  he  put  into  use  the  greatest  piece 
of  machinery  for  sentiment  making  there  is  on  the  con 
tinent — the  entire  Christian  Church.  How  ? 

The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America  was  organised  about  eight  years  ago.  Its  name 
describes  it.  It  is  an  attempt  to  federate  into  a  single 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 


force  all  the  Protestant  denominations.  Its  Year  Book 
for  1914,  issued  in  March,  1915,  page  4,  gives  .the  list  of 
constituent  churches,  thirty  denominations  in  all ;  Baptist, 
Christian,  Congregational,  Disciples,  Friends,  German- 
Evangelical,  Lutheran,  Mennonite,  Methodist  (all 
branches),  African  (all  branches),  Presbyterian,  Epis 
copal,  Reformed,  United  Brethren,  and  others. 

They  enumerate  103,023  ministers,  138,995  churches, 
17,438,826  members.  These  denominations  are  assessed 
one  dollar  for  each  thousand  members,  and  in  1914  this 
yielded  nearly  $17,000.  The  total  receipts  from  all 
sources  for  1914  were  about  $62,000. 

It  has  a  national  office  in  New  York  with  a  secretary 
and  assistant  receiving  $6,200  per  year  salary.  Its  mail 
ing  list  exceeds  75,000  names.  It  works  through  several 
Commissions  or  Committees.  One  of  these  created  in 
April,  1914,  is  called  "The  Commission  on  Relations  with 
Japan."  There  is  no  such  commission  for  any  other 
nation,  but  over  one-fifth  of  the  total  funds  expended  in 
1914  were  used  by  this  Commission  on  Relations  with 
Japan. 

Sidney  L.  Gulick  began  work  for  this  Federal  Council 
about  January,  1914,  and  is  now  definitely  engaged  by  it 
to  promote  what  both  Mr.  Gulick  and  the  Federal  Council 
term  'The  New  Oriental  Policy." 

Let  us  now  establish  several  facts :  ( i )  That  those  who 
engaged  him  knew  his  program.  (2)  That  they  gave  it 
direct  and  full  indorsement  and  made  it  their  own.  (3) 
That  they  have  used  the  funds  collected  from  these  church 
members  to  promote  this  program,  and  are  now  using 
them.  It  will  be  demonstrated : 

(A)  That  this  use  of  Mr.  Gulick  and  his  program  is 
a  definite  attempt  to  shape  the  political  policies  of  America 
on  many  extremely  vital,  national  and  international  ques 
tions. 


84       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

(B)  That  Mr.  Gulick  and  the  Federal  Council  assault 
the  intelligence  and  the  morality  of  the  people  in  those 
states  having  anti-Asiatic  laws. 

(C)  That  the  Commission  represents  only  a  small  sec 
tion  of  the  nation  in  its  make-up  and  has  exhibited  par 
tiality  in  its  consideration  of  the  problems  involved. 

(D)  That  the  cross-lines  of  influence  and  the  powers 
allied  to  promote  this  movement  are  great  enough  to 
affect  seriously  the  action  of  the  government  and  the  polit 
ical  and  social  welfare  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Hamilton  Holt  is  the  acting  chairman  of  the  Com 
mission  on  Relations  with  Japan  and  one  of  the  five  men 
who  engaged  Mr.  Gulick.  In  the  Annual  Report  referred 
to,  from  which  I  shall  take  all  my  quotations,  Mr.  Holt 
says:  "WE  RECOMMEND  HIS  VIEWS  IN  GENERAL  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  to  the  President,  the  Secre 
tary  of  State,  the  Secretary  of  Labor,  Congress  and  Gov 
ernor  and  Legislature  of  California." 

The  secretary  of  the  Federal  Council  writes :  "Japanese 
scholars,  statesmen  and  diplomats  have  given  its  proposals 
cordial  approval." 

Fifty  thousand  ministers  were  asked  to  preach  on  Peace 
on  May  17,  1914.  The  letter  of  instructions  to  them  con 
tains  this  sentence :  "The  Council  has  secured  the  services 
of  Rev.  Sidney  L.  Gulick  of  Japan  to  assist  in  the  work 
directed  by  the  Committee  on  Relations  with  Japan,  which 
is  to  take  up  this  question  of  international  and  race  rela 
tionship  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  Christian  Gospel. 
The  plans  of  the  committee  are  of  great  moment." 

Again,  the  Commission  sent  "An  Appeal  to  Congress 
and  the  People  of  the  United  States  for  an  Adequate 
Oriental  Policy,"  asking  that  they  "adopt  an  Oriental 
Policy  providing  for  comprehensive  legislation  covering 
all  phases  of  the  question,  and  providing  for  the  natural 
isation  of  immigrants." 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  85 

Mr.  Gulick  was  sent  to  Japan  on  January  9,  1915,  bear 
ing  the  message  of  the  Federal  Council  to  Japan,  which 
contains  this  credential:  "The  Rev.  Sidney  L.  Gulick, 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  needs  no  introduction  to  you,  for  he 
was  a  missionary  in  Japan  for  many  years.  Since  his 
return  to  America  on  his  furlough  he  has  been  invited  to 
our  most  prominent  pulpits,  has  secured  a  hearing  for  the 
cause  of  Japan  by  the  foremost  men  of  our  nation  and 
returns  to  you  not  only  as  your  Brother,  but  also  is  in 
trusted  with  a  duty  of  representing  the  Federal  Council.'' 

Let  us  see  how  and  to  what  extent  this  program  of  Mr. 
Gulick  so  adopted  by  the  Federal  Council  et  al.,  and  so 
indorsed  by  Japan,  has  been  promulgated.  I  submit  the 
Report  of  the  Secretary: 

"Two  pamphlets  have  been  published  giving  an  exposi 
tion  of  the  main  points  of  his  New  Oriental  Policy." 

"Some  20,000  of  these  pamphlets  have  been  freely  dis 
tributed." 

"Ten  thousand  copies  have  been  published  for  use  dur 
ing  the  coming  winter  (1915-1916)". 

"The  Survey  syndicated  one  of  his  articles  to  150 
dailies." 

"The  American  Leader  published  two  articles  which 
went  to  650  foreign  language  papers  published  in  the 
United  States." 

"The  Federal  Council  syndicated  an  article  to  500  reli 
gious  and  secular  papers." 

"The  Church  Peace  Union  sent  copies  of  his  v Solution 
of  America's  Oriental  Problem'  to  10,000  ministers." 

Fifty  thousand  ministers  were  asked  to  preach  on 
"Peace",  instructed  as  indicated  above. 

Dr.  Gulick  himself  has  delivered  his  message  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  times  within  the  year  in  the  great 
centres  from  Boston  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  arranged  by 


86 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

the  Federal  Council,  with  the  finest  auspices  in  univer 
sities,  seminaries  and  clubs,  including  "the  guest  of  honor 
at  fifty  banquets." 

The  Secretary  of  the  Council  makes  this  sensational 
appeal :  "It  is  increasingly  clear  that  we  have  entered  upon 
this  work  none  too  soon."  Our  government  "has  by  no 
means  satisfied  the  Japanese  people  that  we  are  meeting 
the  issue."  "Both  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and  in  Japan  the 
situation  invites  difficulty.  It  would  take  little  to  arouse 
bad  feeling.  We  are  living  over  a  powder  magazine.  No 
one  knows  when  some  one  will  touch  a  match." 

Let  us  now  have  a  look  at  the  composition  of  this  Com 
mission  on  Relations  with  Japan  in  the  Federal  Council. 
It  has  fifteen  members.  Eight  of  them  live  in  New  York 
City.  Two  of  them  live  in  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 
Fourteen  of  them  are  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
remaining  member  is  Rev.  Doremus  E.  Scudder  of  Hon 
olulu,  who,  like  Mr.  Gulick,  thirty  years  ago  became  a 
missionary  in  Japan  and  Oriental  countries.  Mr.  Scudder 
long  since  declared  himself  strongly  pro- Japanese  and  is 
quoted  by  the  Japanese  in  their  attacks  on  California,  in 
which  he  joins. 

Not  one  of  the  Pacific  Coast  States  is  represented  in 
this  Commission,  nor  is  any  state  which  has  an  Oriental 
problem  or  even  a  race  problem.  The  Pacific  Coast  is 
entitled  to  a  large  representation  on  this  Commission, 
unless  it  proposes  that  New  York  City  shall  control  the 
destinies  of  ten  millions  of  people  directly  interested  in 
a  part  of  America  three  thousand  miles  from  the  pro 
gram-making  centre.  As  three- fourths  of  all  the  Japanese 
in  America  are  in  California,  that  state  is  entitled  to  a 
large  representation  on  that  Commission  if  America  and 
the  Christian  Church  are  to  maintain  representative  gov 
ernments. 

A  few  laymen  of  these  churches  also  should  be  per- 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 87 

mittecl  to  shape  the  politics  of  this  Commission.  On  the 
Commission  at  present  are  eight  ministers,  two  more  are 
heads  of  Missionary  Boards,  and  four  others  preach.  To 
offset  Hamilton  Holt,  Sidney  L.  Gulick,  Doremus  E. 
Scudder  and  Charles  S.  McFarland,  who  are  avowed 
champions  of  Japan,  and  who  are  advocates  of  the  "great 
melting  pot,"  let  an  equal  number  of  Christian  gentlemen 
be  chosen  who  are  as  avowedly  the  champions  of  racial 
purity. 

As  a  further  instance  of  partisan  procedure,  I  wish  to 
cite  one  more  fact.  The  Annual  Report  referred  to  says 
that  the  Federal  Council  has  secured  "Professor  H.  A. 
Millis,  of  the  University  of  Kansas,  to  visit  the  Pacific 
Coast  to  make  a  special  study  of  the  Japanese  situation. 
His  report  is  now  in  the  process  of  preparation."  As  this 
report  is  widely  distributed  and  used  as  a  basis  for  further 
action,  let  us  see  who  Mr.  Millis  is. 

In  1913,  just  after  the  California  law  was  passed,  Mr. 
Millis  was  asked  by  The  Survey  (which  syndicated  Mr. 
Gulick's  propaganda)  to  write  a  "distinctive  interpreta 
tion  of  the  social  aspects  of  the  situation."  Mr.  Millis 
published  his  report  in  The  Survey  of  June  7,  1913.  He 
set  down  his  verdict  in  the  opening  paragraph  and  re 
peated  it  as  his  final  word.  It  is  this :  "This  measure,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  writer,  is  unjust,  unnecessary  and 
impolitic."  He  also  says,  "This  action  of  the  people  of 
California  is  not  to  be  explained  in  the  light  of  reason/' 
And  now  this  same  judge  who  had  rendered  this  verdict 
two  years  ago,  whose  bias  they  apparently  knew,  was 
asked  by  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  America  to  render  another  judgment  upon  the  same 
people,  in  the  same  case,  with  the  intention  to  print  and 
distribute  this  "special  study"  and  "report"  to  mould 
American  opinion.  Is  it  fair?  Is  this  investigation?  Is 
this  the  work  of  the  Federal  Council? 


88  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

This  campaign  for  a  New  Oriental  Policy  is  strength 
ened  by  a  great  web  of  cross  influences.  Mr.  Gulick  dedi 
cated  his  book  on  the  New  Oriental  Policy  to  "Andrew 
Carnegie  and  his  co-workers."  Mr.  Gulick' s  books  are 
listed  and  distributed  and  his  policies  recommended  by 
The  World  Peace  Foundation  of  Boston,  The  American 
Peace  Society  of  Washington,  and  The  Church  Peace 
Union  of  New  York,  the  latter  two  of  which  are  bene 
ficiaries  of  The  Carnegie  Endowment  for  International 
Peace. 

I  believe  that  the  New  Oriental  Policy  of  Sidney  L. 
Gulick  is  in  nature  and  function  wholly  political  and  en 
tirely  without  relation  to  the  spiritual  mission  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ.  I  believe  that  the  Christian  Churches 
have  not  adopted  it,  and  that  the  mass  of  their  ministers 
and  members  who  now  unknowingly  are  paying  for  it, 
will  repudiate  it.  I  believe  that  this  entire  Oriental  cam 
paign  in  the  United  States  will  be  opposed  by  the  whole 
American  people  when  they  know  of  it  and  see  where  it 
will  lead.  I  believe  that  for  both  races  there  are  higher, 
purer  destinies  than  this  program  will  attain.  I  believe 
that  it  will  lead  America  from  her  goal  as  a  land  of 
PEACE,  the  home  of  Americans  and  their  children's 
children,  and  should  it  prevail,  I  believe  that  its  ultimate 
end  will  be  as  evil  as  if  it  had  been  planned  by  traitors  to 
both  Church  and  Country. 

Do  Americans  know? 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  APPEAL  TO  FACTS 

THE  FEDERAL  COUNCIL  ORDERS  A  BOOK  UPON  WHICH 
THE  CAMPAIGN  Is  BASED 

"THE  Commission  on  Relations  with  Japan  appointed 
by  The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  at  the 
request  of  the  missionaries  in  Japan,  believing  that  its 
most  immediate  need  was  that  of  correct  information, 
engaged  the  expert  service  of  Professor  H.  A.  Millis  to 
go  to  the  Pacific  Coast  and  make  such  investigation  as 
would  enable  the  Commission1  to  proceed  with  intelligent 
sympathy  in  the  performance  of  its  task,"  and  "author 
ises  the  publication  of  this  report  of  Professor  Millis  for 
the  purpose  of  placing  this  information  before  the 
churches  and  the  people  of  the  United  States." 

So  says  the  preface  of  the  book  Mr.  Millis  wrote  for 
them.  How  many  of  these  books  have  been  distributed 
is  not  announced.  The  Japan  Society  of  New  York  sent 
one  thousand  copies  to  presidents  of  American  colleges 
and  others;  apparently  it  voices  the  sentiments  of  that 
Society.  It  is  intended  to  be  the  authority  in  statistics 
and  opinion  upon  which  the  whole  campaign  is  to  rest 
and  therefore  it  is  very  important.  It  is  fortunate  that 
that  is  true. 

This  book  is  well  done.  It  covers  many  subjects  so 
completely  that  the  same  ground  need  not  be  gone  over 
again.  Its  contents  fall  into  two  columns — facts  and  Mr. 
MilhYs  opinions;  there  are  also  some  "interpretations," 

Commission  on  Relations  with  Japan. 

89 


90       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

and  "prophecies/'  but  all  these,  too,  belong  in  his  opinion 
column. 

The  statistical  facts  are  accurate  in  the  main.  The 
sources  of  such  information  are  simple  and  open  to  all — 
the  Reports  on  Immigration;  the  Japanese-American 
Year  Book;  Records  of  the  Legislature;  Census,  Labor, 
Agricultural  and  Commercial  Reports;  and  Mr.  Millis 
inserts  the  essays  of  Japanese  students  in  the  State.  All 
this  part  of  the  work  could  have  been  compiled  as  well  in 
Washington  or  in  Lawrence. 

Other  facts,  such  as  the  sentiments  and  opinions  held  by 
the  people  of  the  States  of  Idaho,  Washington,  Colorado, 
Oregon  and  California,  which  he  reports,  make  up  a  large 
part  of  his  book.1  These  opinions  are  facts,  just  as  im 
portant  as  are  statistics,  which  must  be  considered  in  the 
case.  But  these  facts  are  not  secured  by  an  investigator 
so  quickly  or  so  easily,  and  the  reader  must  judge  how 
fully  and  accurately  Mr.  Millis  could  get  them  in  the  brief 
period  which  he  devoted  to  California,  for  instance,  with 


author  of  this  book  is  willing  to  accept  Mr.  Millis's  report 
of  these  opinions  and  sentiments  at  face  value  in  most  cases.  His 
own  right  to  interpret  them,  especially  those  of  California,  where 
Mr.  Millis  says  the  whole  problem  centres,  is  based  on  his  personal 
experience.  He  began  his  study  of  that  country  in  1887  when,  as  a 
delegate  representing  an  Ohio  College  at  the  International  Con 
vention  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  he  spent  a  month  in  the  State ;  from  1897 
to  1907  he  spent  a  few  weeks  each  year  on  the  Pacific  Coast  in  such 
capacity  as  to  meet  the  best  people  of  many  communities;  in  1907-08 
he  made  an  investigation  of  farm  lands  and  irrigation  projects  in 
western  states,  particularly  in  California,  Colorado  and  Idaho.  Since 
then  he  has  lived  in  California,  visiting  every  part  of  it,  participat 
ing  in  the  affairs  of  Church,  School  and  State,  and  as  a  rancher 
interested  as  owner  in  citrus  nurseries  and  orange  and  lemon  groves, 
has  been  an  employer  of  Japanese,  Mexicans  and  others.  His  ob 
servation  and  experience  cover,  therefore,  the  whole  period  of 
development  of  this  problem,  from  the  time  when  there  were  only 
about  one  thousand  Japanese  in  the  United  States. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  91 

its  nearly  three  millions  of  people  and  its  territory  nine 
hundred  miles  long ! 

The  other  column  of  matter  in  Mr.  Millis's  book  is 
made  up  of  his  own  opinions  on  a  great  number  of  items. 
These  expressions  can  be  taken  only  as  the  opinions  of 
one  man  and  he  not  en  rapport  with  the  people  he  is 
investigating. 

There  are  on  the  Pacific  Coast  a  hundred  thousand  men 
and  a  hundred  thousand  women  whose  education,  expe 
rience  and  honour  entitle  their  opinions,  each  one,  to  equal 
consideration  with  his,  and  whose  knowledge  of  the  soul 
of  the  people,  which  comes  only  from  long,  sympathetic 
contact,  is  in  every  case  superior  to  his.  And  of  this 
group,  he  says,  "the  majority  of  business  men,  publicists 
and  professional  men  are  opposed  by  an  overwhelming 
majority"  to  the  very  opinions  and  policies  which  Mr. 
Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  espouse  and  which  the  Fed 
eral  Council  of  Churches  and  the  Japan  Society  of  New 
York  are  promoting. 

But  there  is  a  great  surprise  in  this  book.  It  makes  a 
stronger  case  for  the  people  of  the  western  states  than  any 
one  of  them  has  yet  produced.  It  squarely  contradicts 
many  of  the  statements  and  alleged  facts  of  Mr.  Gulick 
and  Mr.  Kawakami  and  overthrows  the  whole  structure 
of  their  arguments. 

Gulick  and  Kawakami  said  that  the  Japanese  had  not 
been  especially  clannish,  forming  Asiatic  communities 
encysted  in  America. 

Mr.  Millis  shows  that  they  have  been  so  beyond  other 
colonists  because  they  are  inherently  clannish.1  "They 
are  peculiar  in  the  degree  of  clannishness  which  obtains 
among  them  and  are  in  contrast  to  the  Chinamen,  the 
American,  and  the  European  in  the  weakness  of  the  indi- 

*Page  269. 


92  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

vidualistic  spirit."  1  He  quotes  a  former  consul  and  ad 
mirer  of  Japan  saying,  "its  history  and  activity  is  inter 
preted  from  the  view  of  the  clan,  and  they  could  never 
become  loyal  to  any  country  as  against  their  own  country. 
Their  intense  patriotism  is  merely  the  'larger  clan  idea'." 
Mr.  Millis  concludes  that  enlargement  of  their  population 
would  tend  to  make  Asiatics  more  and  more  clannish 
communities  "encysted"  in  America. 

Gulick  and  Kawakami  said  that  they  did  not  underbid 
or  eliminate  white  labour  to  any  special  degree. 

Mr.  Millis  shows  that  they  did,  specifying  many  cases 
and  facts  in  Colorado,  Washington  and  California.  "The 
primary  motive  for  emigration  with  this  race  has  always 
been  economic.  Japanese  have  not  left  their  homeland 
to  avoid  religious  and  economic  persecution."  2  "Most 
of  the  Japanese  who  have  emigrated  have  done  so  for  the 
sake  of  economic  gain,  and  with  the  intention  of  return 
ing  to  Japan.  Only  a  few  have  ceased  to  look  back  to 
their  native  land."  3  "The  underbidding  of  white  men 
was  all  but,  if  not  quite,  universal."  4  He  shows  that  they 
were  more  strongly  organised  under  "bosses"  than  any 
other  labourers  and  after  they  had  eliminated  white  labour 
so  that  it  had  left  the  locality,  they  used  their  strong  com 
bine  to  raise  their  own  wages  until  they  equalled  the  wages 
of  those  they  had  displaced. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  said  they  maintain  to 
a  degree  the  American  standards  of  living  and  labour. 

Mr.  Millis  says  they  do  not  and  have  been  able  to  elim 
inate  white  competition  in  labour,  leasing,  ownership  and 
marketing,  because  they  compete  on  a  lower  standard  of 
living,  housing  and  subsistence,  using  longer  hours  for 

"Page  248. 
2Page  8. 
3Page  254. 
4Page  in. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 93 

labour,  and  seven  days  of  the  week;  that  they  have  an 
advantage  over  the  white  farmer  in  hiring  Japanese  help ; 
and  a  "great  advantage  in  the  work  done  by  their  wives, 
who  almost  invariably  labour  in  the  fields  for  long  hours, 
and  frequently  seven  days  per  week."  1  "The  average 
American  assumes  that  wives  should  not  work  regularly 
at  the  chief  gainful  pursuit  of  the  family."  2  In  the  case 
of  the  often  cited  box  factory  at  Florin  he  says,  "At  first 
most  of  the  employees  were  white  women  and  girls  of  the 
community.  They  were  rapidly  displaced  by  Japanese 
(women)  because  the  white  women  did  not  wish  to  work 
more  than  ten  hours  per  day,  or  work  overtime  or  on 
Sundays."  3 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  said  that  lower  stand 
ards,  if  any,  had  been  forced  upon  them. 

Mr.  Millis  says  that  they  brought  these  standards  with 
them  from  a  lower  standard  country. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  said  that  they  had 
developed  from  the  raw  largely  the  lands  they  now  occupy. 

Mr.  Millis  is  able  to  show  but  one  instance  of  any 
importance  in  one  district  where  they  have  developed  lands 
never  used  before,  but  in  most  localities  and  altogether 
so  in  Southern  California,  they  occupy  lands  long  under 
cultivation  and  except  in  devoting  this  land  to  more 
intensive  use  the  "contribution  they  have  made  can  be 
exaggerated." 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  say  that  they  have  de 
veloped  new  industries  and  made  others  possible. 

Mr.  Millis  says  in  agriculture  they  have  done  no  work 
in  which  white  men  have  not  been  engaged  and  in  every 
case  where  they  have  quit  any  section,  or  any  labour,  the 


TPage  187,  also  141. 
2Page  194. 
'Page  155. 


94 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

interests  have  advanced  without  loss ;  that  after  the  num 
ber  of  Japanese  labourers  was  cut  down  in  1907  the  aver 
age  development  of  the  state  and  expansion  in  acreage  of 
crops  went  right  on  at  the  same  rate  as  before. 

Mr.  Gulick  says  they  have  contributed  largely  to  the 
wealth  and  development  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Millis  shows  that  they  have  not  brought  any  wealth 
or  capital  with  them ;  that  they  have  made  their  economic 
advance  on  "other  people's  money"  by  the  extremely 
"easy"  terms  of  leasing;  that  the  lessor  frequently  ad 
vanced  expenses;  that  their  present  wealth  has  all  been 
taken  out  of  American  soil  and  industry  and  that  the 
Japanese  expect  to  go  back  to  Japan  and  take  it  with 
them. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  said  their  entrance  and 
presence  in  any  community  does  not  decrease  realty  values 
or  the  desirability  of  white  men  to  live  in  it. 

Mr.  Millis  says  that  it  does  in  the  beginning;  that  realty 
values  afterward  rise  by  the  competition  of  Japanese 
among  themselves  for  land;  and  furthermore  their  pres 
ence  destroys  the  very  basis  of  increase  of  values  so  far 
as  white  men  are  concerned  by  effectually  stopping  the 
coming  of  any  more  whites  into  that  locality.  That  is 
the  settler's  hope  of  growth  of  values  in  new  states. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  say,  and  make  a  great 
argument  out  of  it,  that  even  in  the  most  condensed  Jap 
anese  communities  their  white  neighbours  were  opposed  to 
the  anti-alien  land  legislation. 

Mr.  Millis  says  that  in  the  very  instance  which  Mr. 
Gulick  cited,  at  Florin,  his  statement  cannot  be  accepted; 
and  that  generally  the  reverse  was  true;  and  that,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  the  people  prayed  the  Legislature  to  make 
the  formation  of  any  more  communities  like  theirs  impos 
sible,  no  matter  what  the  economics  of  the  case  might  be; 
and  that  this  is  the  feeling  of  all  classes  in  all  industries 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  95 

and  everywhere,  citing  cases  in  Seattle  as  well  as  in  Cali 
fornia. 

Mr.  Gulick  cmd  Mr.  Kawakami  said  (and  all  who 
follow  them,  especially  Hamilton  Holt)  that  the  small 
ratio  of  Japanese  labour  to  total  labour,  and  their  small 
holdings  compared  to  total  holdings  made  them  a  prac 
tically  negligible  influence. 

Mr.  Millis  shows  that  industrially  they  are  a  far  greater 
factor  than  their  numbers  would  indicate;  that  their 
organisation  and  methods  made  them  a  force  to  be  reck 
oned  with  in  every  industry  they  enter,  whether  agricul 
tural  or  commercial,  as  producers  or  marketers,  in  country 
and  city. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  said  that  California  and 
other  western  states  have  great  need  of  Japanese  labour 
and  suffer  without  it. 

Mr.  Millis  says  California  has  an  over  supply  of 
labourers,  that  no  Japanese  are  needed,  that  no  more  are 
wanted  and  that  when  any  withdraw,  white  men  and 
Mexicans  take  their  places  with  no  rise  in  cost  and  no 
loss  in  production. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  said  that  the  white 
farmers  desire  to  hold  and  increase  the  Japanese  element 
in  agricultural  labour. 

Mr.  Millis  shows  that  in  all  his  survey  in  only  one 
instance,  and  that  was  a  large  capitalistic  enterprise,  did 
he  find  any  more  Asiatics  wanted,  and  then  only  at  rush 
seasons,  and  then  the  Chinese,  not  the  Japanese,  were  pre 
ferred.  That  in  all  cases  the  farmers,  while  using  on  a 
friendly  basis  those  that  are  here,  are  a  unit  against  any 
more  Japanese  coming  or  entering  agriculture.  And  the 
same  holds  in  all  kinds  of  business,  in  camp,  town  and 
city,  even  to  the  instance  of  two  ship  captains  who  held 
to  rigid  exclusion. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  say  the  Japanese  are 


96  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

held  by  all,  excepting  a  few  prejudiced  labour  leaders,  as 
equal  in  honour  to  the  Chinese,  and  preferred  to  them  for 
general  reasons. 

Mr.  Millis  declares  that  the  Chinese  are  proverbially  of 
absolute  dependability  in  all  contractual  and  business  rela 
tions;  that  the  Japanese  have  not  been  and  have  no  such 
reputation ;  that  against  them  there  is  very  general  com 
plaint  and  suspicion  in  all  states  where  they  have  been 
tried;  and  that  there  is  evidence  to  justify  this  status  in 
the  experiences  and  dealings  of  white  men  with  them. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  say  that  the  anti-Jap 
anese  sentiment  was  created  by  disreputable  men  in  dis 
creditable  organisations  and  is  held  only  by  the  ignorant 
and  prejudiced,  and  that  the  Anti- Alien  Land  Law  of 
1913  does  not  represent  the  sentiment  of  the  best  people 
of  the  State;  and  that  the  anti-Japanese  sentiment  is  dying 
out. 

Mr.  Millis  shows  exactly  the  opposite ;  that  this  law  was 
the  culmination  of  fifteen  years  of  growing  conviction 
with  creditable  people  all  over  the  state  in  all  industries 
which  the  Japanese  had  entered;  and  that  the  "over 
whelming  majority  of  business  men,  professional  men  and 
publicists,"  as  well  as  the  farmers  and  labour  organisa 
tions,  now  approve  the  law  and  stand  firmly  against  any 
relaxation  of  present  restrictions  on  Asiatic  advance. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  said  that  social  opposi 
tion  to  intermarriage  of  Asiatics  and  whites  was  held  but 
lightly  and  that  the  Miscegenation  Bill  had  little  reason  to 
exist. 

Mr.  Millis  reports  that  a  firm  opposition  to  race  mix 
ture  is,  in  nearly  all  cases,  the  very  first  argument  pre 
sented  against  any  further  immigration  of  Asiatics  or 
extension  of  greater  privileges  to  Japanese,  and  that 
antagonism  to  it  is  strong  and  universal. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  maintain,  and  the  whole 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  97 

pro-Japanese  campaign  maintains,  that  a  better  under 
standing  of  the  real  Japanese  character  will  dissolve  all 
opposition  worth  noticing,  and  that  social  and  racial  amal 
gamation  will  then  become  complete. 

Mr.  Millis  says  that  while  the  people  are  generously  at 
peace  with  the  Japanese,  employing  them,  buying  and 
selling  with  them,  holding  no  individual  personal  malice, 
— the  racial  repulsions  are  very  great ;  that  these  are  legit 
imately  grounded  in  fundamental,  essential  differences 
whjch  are  the  results  of  long  years  of  different  life,  dif 
ferent  ideals  and  different  race  instincts ;  and  that  present 
conditions  will  be  more  highly  accentuated,  and  present 
objections  intensified,  should  present  limitations  be 
removed. 

Mr.  Gulick  and  Mr.  Kawakami  said  that  the  children 
of  intermarriages  of  American  and  Japanese  are  so  Amer 
ican  they  cannot  be  distinguished  from  American  chil 
dren;  and  that  all  Japanese  are  quickly  and  easily  Amer 
icanised,  and  if  given  a  chance  they  would  soon  become 
wholly  assimilated  and  absorbed  as  Americans. 

Mr.  Millis  says  of  these  children :  "In  physical  appear 
ances  an  American  is  likely  to  regard  them  as  decidedly 
Japanese,"  and  we  shall  later  on  see  why  that  must  be. 
His  statements  on  assimilation  of  Japanese  are  im- 
"'  portant. 

"For  centuries  these  races  have  lived  and  moved  in  dif 
ferent  environments.  Different  types  of  mind,  a  some 
what  different  outlook  on  life,  somewhat  different  atti 
tudes  toward  government,  somewhat  different  attitudes 
I  toward  the  family  and  other  institutions  have  resulted."  1 

"Centuries  spent  in  different  environments  have  pro 
duced  deep-seated  dissimilarity.  The  assimilation  of 
Japanese  involves  more  change  than  does  that  of  most,  if 


'Page  240. 


98       THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

not  all,  of  the  European  races  represented  upon  Amer 
ican  soil."  1 

"The  question  whether  the  members  of  this  race  could, 
under  favourable  circumstances,  be  Americanised  in  all 
respects  must  remain  a  disputed  one.''  2 

''One  thing  cannot  be  a  matter  of  dispute.  Without  a 
narrowly  restricted  immigration  and  with  a  considerable 
influx  of  Japanese  the  desired  degree  of  assimilation 
could  not  take  place.  However  great  the  capacity  of  the 
immigrants  for  Americanisation,  the  competition  which 
would  develop  combined  with  present  elements  in  the 
situation  would  prevent  it."  3 

After  saying  that  the  points  in  which  Japanese  show 
assimilation  are  superficial  and  of  little  consequence,  he 
asks, — "but  what  of  certain  fundamentals?  The  central 
ideas  in  the  thought  of  those  who  maintain  that  the  Jap 
anese  cannot  be  Americanised  appear  to  be  that  their 
colour  imposes  an  impossible  barrier  between  the  races, 
that  their  religious  conceptions  cannot  be  overturned, 
their  clannishness  broken  down,  and  their  extreme  loyalty 
to  Japan  transferred  to  another  government."  4 

Then  comes  the  second  surprise  in  this  investigation 
and  "report."  From  these  facts  he  finds  a  verdict  against 
the  people  of  California ! !  His  verdict  is,  "In  the  opinion 
of  the  writer  the  Alien-Land  Law  is  unjust,  impolitic  and 
unnecessary."  That  verdict  rendered  by  him  and  pub 
lished  in  1913  5  was  his  apparent  credential  to  the  Federal 
Council  and  made  him  acceptable  to  them.  He  said  then 
and  elaborates  now  these  reasons :  "It  is  unjust  because  it 
permits  a  state  to  discriminate  against  aliens  under  a  Fed- 


Tage  253. 
2Page  271. 
3Page  272. 
4Page  266. 
*The  Survey,  June  7,  1913. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  99 

eral  law.  It  is  unnecessary  because  there  are  no  vast 
hordes  now  coming  to  our  shores.  It  is  impolitic  because 
it  raises  the  whole  question  of  immigration  restriction  and 
that  should  be  avoided  as  it  will  cause  trouble." 

These  are  the  excuses  of  those  who  postpone  all  diffi 
culties  for  future  generations  to  meet.  They  are  low  in 
standard  and  utterly  untenable.  If  it  be  unjust  to  foreign 
races  for  an  American  state  to  live  and  take  refuge  under 
Federal  law,  then  we  must  conclude  that  that  Federal  law 
is  unjust  and  that  all  Federal  action  under  it  is  and  has 
been  unjust,  and  that  we  must  remove  those  Federal  laws ; 
and  we  must  change  that  Federal  action  to  offer  the  same 
!  paternal  care  over  Asia  as  over  America.  If  it  be  unneces 
sary  because  there  are  no  great  hordes  of  Asiatics  com 
ing  into  America,  then  Americans  must  determine  all 
causes,  not  by  kind  and  character,  but  by  quantity;  for 
getting  the  very  spirit  of  America,  the  spirit  that  created 
Liberty  and  Independence ;  the  spirit  of  those  Colonial 
Dames  of  the  Carolinas  who  refused  to  drink  tea  so  long 
as  it  was  taxed;  and  of  those  prophetic  men  of  Mas 
sachusetts  who  threw  the  tea  into  Boston  harbour;  and  of 
all  who  arose  against  taxation  without  representation— 
not  because  that  taxation  was  great  in  quantity  but  be- 
:  cause  it  was  wrong  in  principle. 

He  calls  this  law  impolitic  because  it  raises  the  whole 

question  of  restricting  immigration,  and  that  should  be 

!  avoided  as  it  would  cause  trouble.1    That  is  the  plaint  of 

:  the  sleeping  sluggard  who  desires  to  sleep,  only  to  sleep 

i  a  little  longer,  while  sleepless  foreign  nations  hedge  us 

round  with  difficulties  until  they  become  too  great  for  us 

ever  to  surmount  them. 

Mr.  Millis'  present  reason  for  its  being  impolitic  is  that 
it  will  cause  commercial  loss  to  America.     This  is  the 


lThe  Survey,  June,  1913. 


100      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

basest  argument  of  all.  Here  we  descend  to  a  mere  ques 
tion  of  dollars  and  cents,  weighing  national  welfare  for 
ever  against  the  possible  money  gain  of  a  day.  What 
irony  it  is  to  report  such  a  reason  to  the  Federal  Council 
of  the  Churches  of  Christ;  for  this  is  the  precise  argument 
that  sells  a  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage  and  once  upon 
a  time  it  betrayed  the  Christ  to  his  enemies  for  thirty 
pieces  of  silver. 

This  verdict  of  Mr.  Millis,  set  against  the  action  of 
nearly  three  millions  of  representative  Americans  in  Cali 
fornia,  against  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Washing 
ton  and  the  laws  of  other  states,  is  strongly  forced  and  out 
of  harmony  with  the  facts.  But  it  is  the  finding  he  made 
in  June,  1913,  and  it  is  quite  natural  that  he  should  con 
firm  it. 

The  most  striking  feature  of  these  pro- Japanese  books 
is  the  great  effort  the  authors  make  to  explain  away  the 
facts  which  make  their  case  a  weak  one.  These  account 
ings,  which  seem  plausible  to  the  sentimental  class  for 
which  the  books  are  written,  to  one  who  knows  the  truth 
are  farcical,  even  to  burlesque.  Mr.  Millis  explains  why 
the  Japanese  have  made  so  complete  a  failure  with  the 
people  by  whom  they  have  been  tried:  "The  Japanese 
inherited  the  prejudice  against  the  Chinese;  a  powerful 
factor  is  that  the  immigration  of  the  Japanese  followed 
that  of  the  Chinese.  The  whole  history  of  the  Japanese 
in  this  country  has  been  coloured  by  that  fact."  1  After 
making  as  bad  a  case  for  the  Chinese  as  he  can,1  detailing 
what  they  had  done  to  be  discredited  by  Americans  and 
the  low  esteem  in  which  they  stood,  he  adds :  "Then  came 
the  Japanese.  What  wonder,  though  they  were  vastly  dif 
ferent  peoples,  that  the  Japanese  should  be  set  down  in 
the  same  category  as  the  Chinese."  2 

'Page  240. 
'Page  241. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  101 


This  explanation  is  fantastic.  Three  well  known  facts 
strip  it  bare. 

The  first  is  that  before  the  Japanese  influx  came  the 
Chinese  problem  had  been  settled  by  the  Exclusion  Treaty 
of  1880,  and  the  laws  passed  by  Congress  that  grew  out 
of  it  in  1882,  1884  and  1888.  The  agreement  with  China 
accepting  the  situation  had  been  friendly ;  the  acts  limited 
to  ten  years  were  regularly  extended,  and  were  sure  to  be 
renewed,  Chinamen  were  rapidly  going  home,  California 
had  adjusted  its  mind  and  industries  to  the  conditions,  and 
saw  in  Exclusion  a  satisfactory  end  of  the  whole  Asiatic 
question. 

Then  came  the  Japanese.  Before  1900  there  were  less 
than  15,000  all  told  in  America.  Then  began  the  influx. 
In  1900  alone  nearly  13,000  arrived;  in  1907  when  the 
Gentleman's  Agreement  was  entered  into  over  60,000 
more  had  come  and  California  herself  had  nearly  60,000 
of  them;  by  1910  they  numbered  approximately  75,000 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  practically  all  of  these,  as  the 
statistics  show,  were  men. 

Secondly,  this  period,  1900-1910,  was  the  very  time 
when  America  was  in  the  height  of  her  admiration  for  the 
Japanese.  The  fatuous  favour  for  the  "little  brown 
brother"  coloured  every  phrase.  In  their  sudden  attack 
and  defeat  of  China  in  1894-5  when  Japan  came  out  of 
her  old  exclusion  and  began  the  march  toward  Empire, 
the  Japanese  had  won  the  unqualified  admiration  of  those 
Americans  whose  shibboleth  is  success.  The  morality,  or 
lack  of  it  in  the  act,  was  excused.  Japan  was  a  sort  of 
protege  of  the  United  States  and  the  young  ward  was 
proving  the  mettle  of  his  sponsor.  Then  had  followed  the 
daring  attack  on  Russia — and  Victory !  Who  then  dared 
to  say  aught  against  them?  They  were  ranked  by  all 
America  as  infinitely  superior  to  the  Chinese.  No  immi 
grant  ever  entered  an  alien  land  so  heralded,  so  favoured, 


102  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


so  petted.  And  the  east,  having  had  no  experience  with 
them  since,  is  still  in  that  mental  state. 

The  final  fact  is  that  during  those  same  years — 1900- 
1910 — in  which  the  Japanese  were  coming  into  California, 
the  Pacific  states  received  their  largest  arrivals  of  resi 
dents  from  eastern  states.  California  added  892,476,  an 
increase  of  60. i  per  cent.  The  census  of  1910  showed  an 
increase  in  western  cities  and  states  that  amazed  the 
nation.  In  the  very  cities  where  later  developed  the  most 
objection  to  the  Japanese — Seattle,  San  Francisco  and 
Los  Angeles — the  percentage  of  increase  was  wonderful. 
Los  Angeles  County  had  increased  196  per  cent.  Los 
Angeles  City  had  grown  to  310  per  cent,  of  1900,  her 
population  having  added  in  those  ten  years  a  city  the  full 
size  of  Denver  or  Minneapolis.  Seattle,  Portland,  Oak 
land,  Sacramento  had  increased  net  gains  of  double;  and 
San  Francisco  despite  the  earthquake  and  fire  was  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  larger. 

The  significant  fact  in  all  this  is  that  these  great  thou 
sands  from  the  east  all  brought  their  highly  coloured  pro- 
Japanese  sentiment  with  them.  I  cannot  remember  a 
single  instance  of  a  "newcomer"  to  whom  I  spoke  who 
did  not  diffuse  with  Japanese  praise.  From  all  these  new 
comers  surely  the  Japanese  had  inherited  no  Chinese 
handicap.  These  are  the  facts  upon  which  we  must 
predicate  the  present  opinion  of  western  people.  The 
Japanese  thus  began  with  a  great  advance  credit  over  any 
the  Chinese  ever  had  and  they  were  not  considered  in  the 
same  class  with  Chinese.  A  few  years  of  the  experience 
of  contact,  and  lo !  the  relative  estimates  are  reversed ! 
Why? 

Mr.  Millis  explained  it,  although  he  didn't  expect  an 
other  interpretation  to  be  used : — "They  are  vastly  differ 
ent  peoples,"  these  Chinese  and  Japanese,  in  their  relations 
with  the  American  people.  The  Chinese  lived  in  distinct 


FORCES  AND  METHODS IPS 

communities,  but  they  dealt  with  white  men  as  individ 
uals.  The  Japanese  are  community  workers — organized, 
registered  in  Japanese  headquarters,  officered,  ruled  by 
their  boss  with  absolute  command;  they  are  of  the  clan, 
in  which  only  the  whole  counts,  and  back  of  these  clans 
stands  the  Imperial  Government.  The  Chinese  are  con 
tent  to  maintain  the  rank  of  their  homeland  or  to  rise  by 
steady  growth;  the  Japanese  at  once  coveted  the  highest 
industrial  and  political  rank — higher  than  they  ever  could 
have  had  at  home,  and  equal  to  any  here.  The  Chinese 
made  slight  offensive  movement  against  Americans;  the 
Japanese  are  always  on  the  offensive.  The  Chinese  were 
tractable  and  docile ;  the  Japanese  are  bold  and  aggressive. 
Mr.  Millis  admits — "The  Chinese  are  notoriously  honest 
in  all  contractual  relations."  The  Japanese  have  a  "rather 
weakly  developed  sense  of  contract."  The  Chinese  were 
honest  and  dependable;  the  Japanese  were  crafty,  subtle, 
tricky  and  untrustworthy.  The  Chinese  asserted  no  racial 
superiority  over  other  Asiatics.  The  Japanese  held  them 
selves  infinitely  above  the  Chinese  and  Koreans,  and 
wholly  repelled  the  negro.  The  Chinese  aspired  to  no 
social  equality  or  familiar  domestic  relations  with  white 
families.  The  Japanese  coveted  the  finest  white  girls  in 
our  best  families  and  used  strange  arts  to  win  them,  which 
far  outdid  methods  of  Jacob  in  his  labours  for  Rachael, 
and  put  fathers  of  white  girls  on  the  defensive. 

Finally,  and  in  its  evil  effects  and  prophetic  warnings 
more  than  any  one  difference,  is  the  contrast  in  the  atti 
tudes  of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  governments  toward 
their  subjects  in  America.  China  accepted  our  Oriental 
policy  with  full  recognition  of  the  sovereign  rights  of 
nations  to  admit  or  exclude  any  people  in  any  numbers  on 
its  own  terms;  Chinese  subjects  did  not  report  petty  griev 
ances  at  home;  there  was  no  Pekin  interference  in  Cali 
fornia  or  at  Washington,  D.  C.  A  permanent,  under- 


104  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

standing  had  been  reached  and  peace  with  Asia  was 
assured. 

The  attitude  of  Japan  is  vastly  different.  Mr.  Millis 
admits :  "The  relation  between  the  Japanese  government 
and  its  subjects  on  foreign  soil  is  a  peculiarly  intimate 
one.  In  no  other  instance  is  it  so  close."  1  "In  California 
her  emigrants  have  been  treated,  it  would  appear,  almost 
as  colonists.  Certain  obligations  were  laid  upon  the  emi 
gration  companies  (who  brought  them  to  America)  to 
care  for  those  emigrants  through  them.  Appeals  to  the 
government  at  home  have  been  frequent  and  the  response 
has  been  quickly  made."  2  There  is  a  decisive  fact.  The 
Japanese  settlements  in  California  are  the  colonies  of 
Japan — they  are  doubly  protected  by  our  laws  and  by 
Japan's  parental  espionage.  And  when  we  said,  "Please, 
Japanese,  we  do  not  want  any  more  of  you,"  their  gov 
ernment  said,  "But  we  want  more  of  you,  a  great  deal 
more,"  and  they  began  to  turn  the  nation  upside  down 
against  us. 

These  are  the  facts  that  reversed  the  initial  acceptance 
of  the  Japanese;  froze  the  sentimental  support  of  the 
"newcomers"  from  the  east;  and  brought  against  any 
further  Japanese  colonisation  and  extension  upon  our 
lands  thirty-five  Senators  out  of  the  thirty-seven,  and 
seventy-two  representatives  out  of  seventy-five,  and  a 
Governor,  who  is  the  highest  type  of  American  patriot. 
Mr.  Millis  himself,  feeling  the  force  of  these  facts,  ends 
his  investigation  and  report  thus :  "It  must  be  made  em 
phatic  that  any  discussion  of  measures  interpreted  as 
favourable  to  Asiatics,  whether  relating  to  immigration  or 
naturalisation,  will  meet  with  great  opposition  on  the  Pa 
cific  Coast.  A  worse  situation  than  that  which  obtains 


249  and  270. 
2Page  244. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  105 

may  easily  be  imagined.  The  greatest  factors  in  solving 
problems  are  time  and  mutual  understanding.  Govern 
ments  should  avoid  drifting  into  policies  which  create 
problems." 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  APPEAL  TO  SOCIAL  INFLUENCE 

THE  JAPAN  SOCIETY  OF  NEW  YORK  AND  ITS  ALLIES 

THE  Japan  Society  of  New  York  stands  with  the  Com 
mission  on  Japan  of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches 
of  Christ  in  quality  of  membership  and  sweep  of  influ 
ence.  It  was  organised  in  1907,  after  the  first  conflict 
which  the  United  States  had  with  Japan,  by  a  group  in 
New  York  City,  headed  by  Mr.  Lindsay  Russell,  Presi 
dent  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  The  Independent,  and 
Hamilton  Holt,  its  editor.  Both  of  these  gentlemen  have 
been  shown  distinction  by  the  Japanese  Government.  Mr. 
Holt,  in  a  Lyceum  circular  announcing  his  lectures,  says 
that  in  1909  he  was  decorated  by  the  Mikado  with  the 
Order  of  the  Sacred  Treasure.  The  society  has  a  mem 
bership  of  nine  hundred  Americans  and  one  hundred  Jap 
anese  ;  among  the  latter  are  Japanese  officials  in  America, 
Japanese  editors,  publicists  and  business  men  of  wealth 
and  social  distinction. 

The  presence  of  these  Japanese  makes  impossible  in  this 
Society  a  free  discussion  of  the  Japanese-American  prob 
lem  and  prohibits  a  hearing  to  those  who  oppose  the 
aggressions  and  policies  of  Japan.  The  Society  is  richly 
supported.  A  patron  pays  one  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
Life  memberships  are  $200;  resident  members,  (within 
40  miles  of  New  York)  $10  per  year.  Non-resident 
members,  $5  per  year.  It  sometimes  publishes  lists  of 
donors  of  special  gifts  of  $100  to  $500.  Its  yearbook, 
announcing  its  $1,000  patrons  (all  American  millionaires) 
and  other  members,  is  the  most  exquisite  published  in 

106 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 107 

America.  It  would  be  impossible  to  find  in  any  centre  of 
America  or  grouped  within  any  one  organisation  of  equal 
number  a  list  of  names  so  well  known  for  wealth  and 
social  prominence.  Its  roster  is  open  to  any  acceptable 
person  anywhere  and  the  glamour  of  its  membership  and 
its  great  dinners  with  marvellous  Japanese  decorations  are 
drawing  to  it  a  clientage  whose  social  appeal  is  irresistible. 
In  a  recent  list  of  thirty-three  names  proposed  by  members 
for  membership,  there  were  represented  twelve  American 
states  and  Japan  itself.  This  Society  spends  about  ten 
thousand  dollars  a  year  in  pro-Japanese  propaganda. 

Of  this  membership,  wealthy  and  powerful,  the 
majority  evidently  have  been  moved  to  join  by  sentimental 
appeal,  without  a  knowledge  of  the  Japanese  movement, 
without  suspecting  the  radical  changes  which  will  come  to 
our  country  should  that  Society  achieve  its  main  purpose. 
Just  as  the  rank  and  file  of  the  ministers  and  members  of 
the  Christian  Churches  are  unaware  of  the  real  meaning 
of  the  Gulick  movement,  so  these  but  follow  that  small 
group  of  pro- Japanese  men  who  lead  them  and  who,  it 
develops,  are  almost  exactly  the  same  in  both  organisa 
tions.  A  founder  of  the  Japan  Society  of  New  York,  the 
founder  and  chairman  of  the  Japan  Commission  of  the 
Federal  Council,  is  the  same  man,  Hamilton  Holt. 

Now  there  is  no  Japanese  or  Oriental  problem  in  New 
York  or  the  Atlantic  Coast.  Why  should  Americans  in 
New  York  City  interest  themselves  thus  in  Japan  instead 
of  India,  China,  Belgium,  France  or  other  nations?  The 
Japan  Society  answers,  "For  the  promotion  of  friendly 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  Japan,  and  the 
diffusion  among  the  American  people  of  a  more  accurate 
knowledge  of  Japan,  their  aims,  ideals,  arts,  sciences, 
industries  and  economic  conditions." 

But  why  so  great  an  interest  in  Japan  over  countries 
of  Christian  aims,  arts,  sciences,  industries  and  economics 


108 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

which  are  developed  far  beyond  those  of  Japan — such  as 
England,  Germany  and  France?  There  are  thousands  of 
citizens  of  these  countries  in  New  York;  or  of  Italy, 
Russia  and  Austria  whose  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
immigrants  give  New  York  a  real  cause  to  study  racial 
problems?  They  again  repeat  "To  interpret  Japan  to 
America — to  educate  public  opinion  in  America."  The 
last  clause  is  the  whole  answer.  But  they  present  only  the 
cherry-blossom  side :  they  omit  equal  emphasis  of  that 
other  large  side  which  should  enter  into  any  impartial 
survey.  But  should  they  tell  all,  it  would  give  a  colour  to 
public  opinion  which  they  do  not  desire;  theirs  is  no  aca 
demic  education :  it  is  a  special  plea  for  Japan,  moulding 
public  opinion  to  grant  to  Japanese  the  rights  of  immigra 
tion,  citizenship  and  social  opportunity  in  the  United 
States. 

It  outlines  its  organisation  of  this  work  as  follows : 
"Its  aims  are  accomplished  through  the  facilities  of  a  lec 
ture  bureau;  a  bureau  of  information;  an  entertainment 
committee,  extending  hospitality  in  the  form  of  dinners, 
luncheons  and  receptions  to  distinguished  visitors;  a 
bureau  of  travel,  through  which  information  on  Japan  is 
supplied  to  prospective  tourists,  letters  of  introduction 
issued,  etc. ;  the  publication  of  a  monthly  bulletin  and  the 
publication  from  time  to  time  of  books  and  pamphlets 
which  reflect  public  opinion  in  the  two  countries." 

Thus  they  educate  public  opinion  with  a  vast  sowing  of 
literature.  The  monthly  bulletin  of  3,000  copies  goes 
regularly  to  its  1,000  members,  "to  1,000  libraries,  500 
editors,  500  college  presidents,  commercial  bodies  and 
United  States  Senators" 

It  is  a  distributing  agent  for  all  radical  pro-Japanese 
books  and  makes  them  to  order  from  time  to  time.  Dr. 
Gulick's  books  are  indorsed  and  promoted  by  its  mem 
bers.  The  Society  also  helped  in  the  distribution,  gratis. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  109 

of  The  Japanese  Problem  in  the  United  States  by  Pro 
fessor  H.  A.  Millis  to  the  extent  of  1,000  copies.  The 
first  copy  seen  by  the  writer  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Presi 
dent  of  a  State  University  of  the  Northeast,  stamped  in 
green  ink,  "Presented  by  the  Japan  Society  of  New 
York."  Measure  this  influence  if  you  can. 

At  about  the  same  time  it  says,  "A  new  phase  of  the 
Society's  activities  was  the  publication  and  distribution  in 
this  country  of  two  books,  unique  in  international  rela 
tions — Japan's  Message  to  America,  and  America's  Mes 
sage  to  Japan.  These  volumes  were  made  up  of  essays  by 
representative  citizens  of  Japan  and  America  and  were 
intended  to  reflect  the  opinion  of  the  general  public  in  the 
two  countries."  1  So  says  their  statement. 

But  these  books  do  not  truly  represent  public  opinion 
in  either  country.  Let  us  see. 

The  Japan  Society  of  New  York  has  organised  an 
Advisory  Council  or  joint  society  in  Japan  itself  "to  co 
operate  with  the  parent  organisation"1  in  America.  Its 
Japanese  head  is  Baron  Shibusawa.  When  the  common 
membership  of  these  two  organisations  is  kept  in  mind, 
we  can  understand  the  vogue  of  certain  widely  heralded 
"banquets,"  "receptions"  and  "dinners"  given  to  Japanese 
and  Americans  travelling  in  both  countries.  They  seem  to 
spring  spontaneously  out  of  general  regard  and  public 
opinion;  but  they  are  merely  play  and  counterplay  of  two 
parts  of  one  club  for  one  end.  It  will  also  help  you  to 
understand  how  it  was  that  the  Japan  Society  of  New 
York  gave  "a  dinner  in  conjunction  with  the  Federal 
Council  of  Churches,  The  Church  Peace  Union  and  the 
New  York  Peace  Society,  to  Dr.  Shailer  Mathews  and 
Dr.  Sidney  L.  Gulick"  2  after  their  return  from  Japan. 
Do  you  observe  how  wide  a  group  of  societies  are  thus 

3 America  to  Japan,  page  in. 
'Statement  by  The  Japan  Society. 


110  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

correlated  in  Japan's  interest?  There  would  seem  to  be 
no  community  of  interests  between  these  very  different 
organisations;  it  is  discovered  in  the  fact  that  the  same 
men  hold  the  positions  of  control  in  them  all. 

Now  it  is  the  members  of  these  two  sister  Japan 
Societies,  one  in  New  York  and  the  other  in  Japan,  and 
their  friends  in  these  other  co-operating  societies  who  have 
written  and  distributed  the  two  books  they  have  published. 
These  books  represent  not  public  opinion,  but  pro-Jap 
anese  sentiment.  To  lend  weight  to  these  books,  some 
names,  like  that  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  are  included, 
signed  to  some  statement  expressing  a  general  view  on 
general  good  will,  treaty-making,  universal  peace,  but 
which  are  non-committal  on  Japan's  appeal  for  American 
citizenship.  However,  these  names  carry  large  weight  of 
influence  to  the  readers  of  the  books,  and  they  are  thus 
made  to  seem  to  indorse  all  that  the  other  contributors 
stand  for. 

California  and  the  Western  people  receive  a  hard  reck 
oning  in  these  books.  The  whole  gamut  of  argument  and 
sentiment  outlined  in  Chapter  IX  are  played  upon.  Rights 
of  immigration  and  citizenship  for  Japanese  are  asked  for 
plainly  by  the  Japanese  and  urged  by  the  American  con 
tributors.  And  the  Society  says  this  "unique  international 
intercourse,  and  these  books  are  sent  forth  on  their  mis 
sion  to  educate  American  opinion." 

You  will  note  the  fine  psychology  in  the  distribution  of 
these  books  as  follows  :  "Three  thousand  copies  of  Japan's 
Message  to  America  were  distributed  as  follows : 

COPIES 

To  Public  Libraries 1,000 

To  Editors 500 

To  Members  of  Congress 600 

To  College  Presidents 400 

To  Commercial  Organisations  and  Public  Officials    500 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  111 

"A  number  of  these  copies  were  placed  in  the  Pacific 
Coast  states  among  commercial  organisations,  libraries, 
editors,  etc.,  to  counteract  the  existing  prejudice  against 
the  Japanese. 

"Practically  the  same  ground  was  covered  by  sending 
out  4,000  copies  of  America's  Message  to  Japan.  In  addi 
tion  500  copies  were  sent  to  Japan." 

So  when  our  boys  and  girls  in  high  schools  are  hunting 
for  material  with  which  to  debate  the  Japanese  problem, 
they  find  gratis  in  our  Libraries  some  or  all  of  the  follow 
ing  books : 

Books  by  Sidney  L.  Gulick,  who  in  himself  represents 
the  Japanese,  the  Japan  Societies,  the  Peace  Societies  and 
the  Christian  Church  pro-Japanese  movement. 

Books  by  K.  K.  Kawakami,  manager  of  one  of  the 
Japanese  Press  Bureaus  in  America. 

Books  by  H.  H.  Millis,  made  for  the  Federal  Council 
of  Churches  as  a  basis  for  its  pro- Japanese  campaign. 

Books  by  the  Japan  Society  of  New  York,  prepared  as 
above  described. 

The  Bulletin,  edited  by  the  Japanese  Society. 

This  literary  campaign,  which  they  claim  is  so  success 
ful  that  many  libraries  had  loaned  these  books  as  many  as 
fifteen  times  in  a  few  weeks,  is  supplemented  by  direct 
solicitation  through  travel  and  personal  work.  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  society  were  sent  recently  into  thirty 
cities  of  sixteen  different  states  in  which  about  two  hun 
dred  persons  were  interviewed.  The  persons  approached 
included  officers  of  commercial  bodies,  editors,  educators, 
librarians  and  others. 

The  Japan  Society  of  New  York  is  an  open  confederate 
of  the  Japanese  press  bureaus  in  our  country,  which  I  shall 
discuss  in  full  in  another  chapter.  One  of  these  press 
bureaus  is  located  in  New  York  City ;  its  editors  are  mem 
bers  of  the  Japan  Society;  it  is  supported  by  money  that 


112  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

comes  from  Japan.1  The  Japan  Society  itself  issues  an 
official  monthly  journal  called  "The  Bulletin."  "The 
Bulletin"  attacks  men  who  write  anything  uncompli 
mentary  to  Japan  or  which  might  sound  a  discordant  note 
in  the  education  of  public  opinion  in  Japan's  behalf.  I 
take  from  this  "Bulletin"  an  editorial  urging  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Japan  Society  to  become  subscribers  to  the 
Japanese  Press  Bureau  and  to  pay  for  material  which  that 
bureau  distributes  gratis  elsewhere. 

"Subscribe  for  the  News  Bulletin 

"For  nearly  a  year  past  the  East  and  West  News  Bureau 
has  issued  a  weekly  Bulletin.  It  is  composed  of  condensed 
news  items  of  the  highest  interest,  culled  from  the  latest 
newspapers  and  other  publications  of  Japan.  It  is  edited 
with  the  view  of  republication  in  the  American  press  and  is 
received  by  about  300  papers  throughout  the  country. 

"It  is  now  proposed  to  extend  the  service  to  members  of 
the  Japan  Society  who  will  contribute  one  dollar  a  year  for 
the  purpose— a  sum  covering  postage  and  printing.  For 
this  amount  they  will  keep  abreast  of  the  progress  of  events 
in  the  Japanese  Empire  without  the  strain  of  much  reading. 
Forward  one  dollar  to  the  East  and  West  News  Bureau,  and 
your  name  will  be  placed  on  the  East  and  West  mailing  list. 
Do  it  now." 

A  thousand  Americans  to  be  swayed  by  the  wand  of 
Japanese  arguments!  A  thousand  dollars  to  be  added 
annually  to  the  treasury  of  a  Japanese  Press  Bureau  for 
gratis  material  in  Japan's  interest!  A  fine  instance  of 
American  gullibility ! 

A  few  sentences  from  one  editorial  will  give  the  flavour 
of  the  Bulletin  of  the  Japan  Society : 

"We  are  continually  hearing  of  'the  Japanese  problem 


*A  statement  by  Hamilton  Holt. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  113 

in  the  United  States'  but  for  every  problem  Japan  has 
given  us  we  have  given  her  a  far  larger  number  in  re 
turn." 

"Apparently  Japan  has  an  American  problem:  the 
Japanese  problem  in  America  becoming  insignificant  in 
comparison." 

"Wherever  Japan  has  sought  ingress  admission  has 
been  denied  her.  Canada  and  Alaska  are  closed  to  her  as 
is  the  United  States." 

"Since  we  are  not  helping  Japan  solve  her  problems  in 
America  while  we  continue  to  deny  her  the  equality  of 
other  immigrants  why  should  we  endeavour  to  keep  her 
out  of  China,  her  logical  field  for  expansion,  as  long  as 
she  maintains  the  Policy  of  the  Open  Door?" 

I  wonder  what  Japan's  American  problem  is?  Cer 
tainly  it  is  not  an  exodus  of  Americans  into  Japan.  Carl 
Crow,1  who  lived  in  Japan  several  years  as  a  member  of 
the  editorial  staff  of  a  newspaper,  gives  the  following 
statement : 

"The  American  population  of  Japan  is  about  1,700;  the 
total  American  and  European  population  of  the  country 
being  less  than  10,000. 

"Of  the  American  population  probably  one-half  may  be 
classed  as  missionaries,  members  of  missionaries'  families, 
teachers  or  members  in  some  capacity  of  the  diplomatic 
and  consular  services. 

"There  are  also  a  number  not  engaged  in  any  occupation 
who  make  Japan  their  home. 

"Certainly  less  than  one-third  are  making  their  living  in 
Japan  in  the  sense  that  they  derive  their  income  directly  or 
indirectly  from  the  Japanese. 

((More  than  one-half,  though  living  in  the  country  are  sup 
ported  by  salaries  paid  in  America. 

"The  Japanese  population  of  the  United  States  (main- 

*" Japan  and  America — A  Contrast." 


114  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

land)  is  about  100,000,  practically  all  of  whom  derive  a  liv 
ing  from  America  and  in  competition  with  Americans." 

The  Japan  Society  does  not  tell  the  whole  truth  about 
Japan.  They  engage  T.  lyenaga,  a  professional  pub 
licity  agent  of  Japan,  head  of  her  press  bureau,  to  give  a 
series  of  lectures  to  "Interpret  the  Far  East";  and  M. 
Anesaka  to  interpret  "Religious  Movements  in  Modern 
Japan." 

But  when  have  they  given  lectures  or  distributed  books 
or  displayed  pictures  to  show  that  Japan  is  a  pagan  nation 
and  proud  of  it ;  to  show  Japan's  adoption  of  Shintoism  or 
ancestor  worship  as  their  religion  forever;  their  lack  of 
morality  judged  by  American  standards;  the  fearful  atti 
tude  of  their  men  toward  womanhood;  the  absence  of 
love  as  the  basis  of  marriage;  their  acceptance  of  prostitu 
tion  and  concubinage;  their  fearful  use  of  women  and 
girls  in  industry;  the  facts  and  causes  of  their  excessive 
suicides  and  homicides ;  their  subsidized  industries,  owned 
by  the  Emperor  and  others  who  vote  the  subsidies,  which 
raised  by  taxation,  come  straight  to  them;  their  military 
and  imperialistic  policy  and  program;  their  control  and 
abridgment  of  the  work  of  missionary  teachers;  their 
brutality  toward  Koreans;  their  scorn  of  the  Chinaman 
and  hate  of  the  negro;  their  double  dealings  with  China 
and  all  nations  having  Chinese  interests? 

The  aims  and  purposes  of  the  Japan  Society  and  its 
branches  are  decidedly  partisan  and  totally  pro- Japanese ; 
it  has  closed  its  doors  to  an  open  discussion  of  the  Jap 
anese  problem  and  has  denied  a  hearing  to  those  who 
interpret  the  Japanese  problem  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
out-and-out  American.  In  proof  of  this  statement  I  sub 
mit  four  letters  between  Hamilton  Holt,  founder  of  the 
Society,  and  myself,  in  which  he  admits  that  the  Japan 
Society  "feels  that  it  can  continue  its  propaganda  work 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  115 

in  its  own  way  to  better  advantage"  than  to  come  out  in 
"open  debate." 

Chicago,  Illinois,  December  14,  1915. 
Mr.  Hamilton  Holt, 
En  tour  at  Newton,  Kansas. 
Dear  Mr.  Holt : 


When  I  saw  you  in  New  York  in  the  spring  you  suggested 
that  I  debate  the  Japanese  problem  with  Dr.  Gulick,  and 
before  the  Japan  Society.  My  rejoinder  was  that  I'd  prefer 
to  do  so  before  a  less  prejudiced  audience.  Since  then,  twice 
when  in  New  York  I've  phoned  your  office,  hoping  to  com 
plete  some  arrangement,  but  you  were  not  in  the  city. 

I'm  writing  this  to  say  that  I  will  debate  the  problem  with 
you,  yourself,  or  with  Dr.  Gulick,  if  he  is  available,  in  April 
or  May — and  even  before  the  Japan  Society.  If  you  can 
risk  it  there,  I  shall.  But  I  want  two  debates  on  two  distinct 
phases  of  the  case,  which  represent  the  lines  of  attack  fol 
lowed  by  you  and  others,  so  far  as  I  am  informed.  One 
refers  to  the  action  of  California,  the  other  is  in  regard  to 
conferring  citizenship  on  the  Japanese. 

The  first  debate  on  the  question  stated  somewhat  as  fol 
lows: 

Resolved,  That  the  action  of  California  in  passing  the 
Anti- Alien  land  bill  of  1913  be  condemned  by  the  Amer 
ican  people. 

Second  debate: 

Resolved,  that  the  Japanese  be  granted,  as  they 
request,  "the  full  rights  of  American  citizenship  on  an 
equal  footing  with  other  civilised  nations." 

Your  Society  is  vigorously  pushing  the  affirmative,  and 
I  choose  the  negative.  Let  us  have  about  one  hour  each, 
with  five  or  ten  minutes  each  in  rebuttal,  or  no  rebuttal. 


Most  sincerely, 

MONTAVILLE  FLOWERS. 


116  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

December  31,  1915. 
My  dear  Mr.  Flowers : 

I  have  taken  up  the  matter  with  the  Japan  Society  in 
regard  to  a  debate  with  you  and  Dr.  Gulick,  but  the  Japan 
Society  does  not  want  to  father  the  proposition,  because  they 
think  it  would  stir  up  more  trouble.  But  possibly  you  and 
Dr.  Gulick  could  arrange  a  debate  by  yourselves.  I  certainly 
would  go  a  long  way  to  hear  it.  I  myself  would  not  want 
to  enter  the  lists  with  you  for  my  knowledge  of  the  Cali 
fornia  situation  is  only  from  reading  and  not  from  personal 

investigation. 

Sincerely  yours, 

HAMILTON  HOLT, 
EDITOR. 


_       TT  February  8,   1916. 

Mr.  Hamilton  Holt, 

Editor  of  The  Independent, 
New  York  City,  N.  Y. 
Dear  Mr.  Holt: 

I  am  disappointed  in  the  retreat  of  the  Japan  Society  and 
in  your  refusal  to  accept  my  challenge  to  debate. 

The  Japan  Society  should  be  willing  to  meet  the  negative 
of  its  issue  or  to  quit  its  tremendous  campaign  for  the  affirm 
ative.  The  latter  will  be  the  easiest  way  for  it  to  cease  to 
"stir  up  more  trouble",  for  its  whole  course  must  end  in 
everlasting  trouble. 

While  I  appreciate  the  friendly  spirit  of  your  personal 
withdrawal  from  the  two  debates,  I  fail  to  see  your  consist 
ency.  You  might  reasonably  decline  to  debate  the  first  ques 
tion  of  condemning  California,  because  you  have,  as  you  say, 
no  first  hand  knowledge  of  California  conditions;  and  yet 
the  course  those  conditions  make  necessary  you  have,  widely 
criticised  as  a  "brutal  insult"  to  Japan. 

But  the  second  question,  on  Japanese  naturalisation,  is  a 
general  principle  for  which  you  stand  unequivocally.  See 
page  ii  of  the  pamphlet  you  wrote  and  distributed  through 
the  International  Conciliation;  and  your  support  of  Mr. 
Gulick,  whose  whole  campaign  has  nothing  less  in  view. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  117 

Now,  having  offered  to  meet  you,  the  Founder  of  the 
Japan  Society  in  the  Society  itself,  and  having  been  refused 
by  you  both,  I  shall  feel  at  liberty  to  use  every  means  I 
can  to  counteract  the  course  the  Society  is  taking,  which  I 
consider  vicious  in  its  assault  upon  California  and  fatally 
mistaken  in  its  campaign  to  naturalise  Asiatics. 

In  my  interview  with  you  in  New  York  City  you  declared, 
"//  we  can  put  this  Gulick  program  over  in  the  other  forty- 
seven  states,  we  will  coerce  California  into  our  position." 
What  I  am  anxious  to  do  is  to  let  Americans  see  both  sides 
of  this  question  before  that  happens. 

Sincerely, 

MONTAVILLE  FLOWERS. 

TV/T  TVT     T-i  February  16,  1916. 

My  dear  Mr.  Flowers : 

I  have  your  letter  of  February  eighth.  I  am  rather  sorry 
myself  the  Japan  Society  did  not  accept  your  challenge,  but 
they  have  a  feeling  that  an  open  debate  on  the  California 
situation  would  lead  to  little  good  at  this  time.  The  Society 
feels  that  it  can  continue  its  propaganda  work  in  its  own  way 
to  better  advantage.  As  for  myself,  as  I  stated  previously, 
I  have  not  got  the  time  to  acquire  the  details  of  the  Cali 
fornia  situation,  so  that  I  can  have  them  at  my  ringer  tips 
for  a  debate.  The  main  arguments  of  course  I  am  familiar 

with.  «-,. 

Sincerely  yours, 

HAMILTON  HOLT, 

EDITOR. 

The  Japan  Society  of  New  York  is  a  menace  to  the 
United  States.  It  is  an  organised,  powerful,  half-dis 
guised  agency  to  change  American  opinion,  to  open 
our  doors  to  Japanese  immigrants,  to  grant  them  the 
rights  of  citizenship  and  intermarriage.  It  has  put  a  seal 
of  approval  upon  intermixture  and  intermarriage  of  the 
yellow  and  white  races,  by  giving  them  the  social  recogni 
tion  and  influence  of  New  York  society. 


118  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

So  long  as  they  confine  themselves  to  a  study  of  the 
''ideals,  arts  and  sciences"  of  Japan  they  may  occupy  an 
innocent  place  in  our  country.  But  they  are  promoting 
radical  political  propaganda  to  change  our  law,  under  the 
statement  that  it  is  an  aesthetic,  educational  effort.  This 
Japanese-American  Society  bears  to  American  interests 
the  exact  character  and  relation  of  any  other  hyphenated 
American  Society.  It  is  doing  for  Japan  more  than  any 
other  is  able  to  do  for  its  foreign  home  land  and  we  should 
hold  it  in  greater  disregard. 

Prof.  Henry  Pratt  Fairchild  of  Yale  in  his  authorita 
tive  treatise  "Immigration"  lays  down  this  principle: 
"Every  foreign-American  Society,  be  it  Irish,  German, 
Italian,  Slovak,  or  any  other,  whatever  its  aims  or  pur 
poses,  is  a  standing  evidence  of  a  group  of  people  who 
recognise  certain  affiliations  and  loyalties  which  are  for- 
eign  to  the  out-and-out  American." 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  APPEAL  TO  AMERICAN  SENTIMENT 

T.  IYENAGA,  K.  K.  KAWAKAMI  AND  THE  JAPANESE 
PRESS  BUREAUS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

"Not  only  should  the  Japanese  be  permitted  to  become 
American  citizens  but  they  should  be  left  at  liberty  to 
intermarry.  .  .  .  What  stupidity,  what  folly,  what  lack 
of  insight  into  human  nature  is  displayed  by  those  nations 
who  would  put  a  ban  on  such  unions  I"1 

This  is  the  declaration  of  K.  K.  Kawakami,  born  and 
reared  in  Japan — now  in  California,  having  a  white  wife. 
This,  in  brief,  is  the  platform  of  the  Japanese  campaign 
in  America. 

The  Japanese  have  discovered  that  the  average  Amer 
ican  citizen  acts  upon  sentiment  when  his  own  personal 
interests  are  not  directly  concerned.  Our  sentiments  are 
fixed  in  a  number  of  phrases  which  nobody  analyses,  but 
each  one  is  like  an  electric  button — if  you  press  it,  a  defi 
nite  result  follows.  'The  people,"  "equal  rights,"  "per 
sonal  liberty,"  "Christian  land,"  "universal  brotherhood," 
"refuge  of  the  oppressed,"  "rights  of  humanity,"  "our 
forefathers,  our  inheritance,"  "states  rights,"  "race  prej 
udice,"  "inexhaustible  resources,"  each  of  these  produces 
a  definite  reaction:  Opposed  political  parties  make  com 
mon  use  of  them — these  platitudes — to  mould  public  opin 
ion,  and  public  speakers  interpret  them  to  their  various 
purposes.  We  are  the  most  sentimental  people  in  the 
world. 

Japan's  campaign  is  a  play  upon  this  sentimentality. 

JK.  K.  Kawakami  in  The  American  Citizen,  June,  1913. 

119 


120      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

K.  K.  Kawakami,  author  of  the  declaration  with  which 
this  chapter  opens,  is  one  of  the  managers  of  that  cam 
paign,  the  masters  of  that  play. 

The  Japanese  who  are  in  America  are  organised  with 
the  system  and  precision  of  a  great  industrial  plant  or  an 
army.  Labourers  grouped  in  camps  have  their  bosses. 
The  boss  can  tell  you  in  a  moment  how  many  men  he  can 
command  tomorrow  and  where  he  can  secure  more.  The 
men  obey  him  absolutely,  coming,  going,  as  he  orders. 
Never  forget  that  Japanese  are  community  workers — their 
idea  is  the  clan,  not  the  individual.  A  Year  Book  is  pub 
lished  by  and  for  Japanese  which  gives  the  residence, 
occupation  and  holdings  of  the  Japanese,  the  value  and 
productions  of  each  land  owner  and  lessee.  Every  Jap 
anese  community  has  its  local  association,  these  have  their 
state  association,  and  all  act  together.  Every  member 
contributes  monthly  toward  a  common  fund  to  promote 
their  interests  local  and  otherwise. 

The  head  of  this  Japanese  Association  of  America  is 
this  same  K.  K.  Kawakami. 

Likewise  their  campaign  of  publicity  and  propaganda  is 
thoroughly  organised  and  followed  with  business  and 
military  precision.  Carl  Crow,  in  his  illuminating  book, 
Japan  and  America — A  Contrast,  says  Japan  has  in  the 
United  States  the  highest  salaried  publicity  agent  in  the 
country.  They  have  at  least  two  press  bureaus ;  they  print 
newspapers,  they  write,  collect  and  mail  gratis  to  the  news 
papers  of  the  country  all  kinds  of  articles  relating  to  Jap 
anese  interests.  Sometimes  the  purpose  of  the  article 
appears  on  the  face  of  it,  sometimes  it  is  concealed. 
Every  one  is  a  move  in  their  general  campaign.  These 
bureaus  have  at  hand  special  pamphlets  made  up  of 
articles  of  their  own  press  sheets  and  bulletins,  all  highly 
pro-Japanese.  These  sheets  and  pamphlets  go  to  news 
papers,  colleges,  libraries  and  members  of  Congress. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 


They  distribute  also  the  prejudiced  and  disproved  but 
malicious  pamphlet  of  Miss  Alice  M.  Brown.  Write  to 
them  for  information  and  you  will  receive  that. 

One  of  these  press  bureaus  is  called  the  East  and  West 
Press  Bureau  and  is  located  at  1548  Woolworth  Building, 
New  York  City.  The  Japan  Society  of  New  York  calls 
this  press  bureau  "a  publicity  organisation  whose  aim  is 
'that  Americans  and  Japanese  should  understand  each 
other.'  '  Mr.  T.  lyenaga,  whose  name  is  seen  so  con 
stantly  in  the  daily  papers,  is  the  head  of  it.  It  is  his  busi 
ness  to  meet  every  article  against  Japan,  to  defend  her 
policies  and  acts,  whatever  they  may  be,  and  to  create 
whatever  new  material  is  needed  to  maintain  for  his  own 
country  the  faith  and  sentiment  of  Americans.  His  press 
sheets  are  purposed  to  keep  up  a  constant  lively  interest  in 
Japan  —  to  exploit  her  activities,  exhibit  her  growth  and 
power  —  explain  satisfactorily  the  apparent  evil  of  her 
aggressions  and  to  interpret  all  her  diplomacy  in  terms  of 
honour  and  good  will.  His  work  and  writings  are  exactly 
those  of  an  attorney  and  pleader. 

Where  do  these  Japanese  Press  Bureaus  get  the  money 
to  sustain  their  work  ?  A  real  press  bureau  sells  its  news 
and  service  on  the  basis  of  ordinary  trade.  Out  of  its 
earnings  it  meets  its  expenses.  But  the  service  of  these 
Japanese  Bureaus  is  free,  even  pamphlet  matter  is  distrib 
uted  "gratis".  No  charge  is  made  for  the  press  sheets, 
not  even  postage.  All  that  is  asked  is  that  the  material 
shall  be  used  and  an  occasional  credit  given  to  the  source. 
Who  pays  for  this  printing,  and  labour,  and  postage,  and 
the  salaries  of  the  men  who  are  conducting  them?  The 
case  is  clear.  These  agencies  are  not  like  our  American 
news  agencies  —  they  are  propagandists. 

Now  there  is  a  very  intimate  relation  and  co-operation 
between  this  press  bureau  and  the  Japan  Society  of  New 
York.  An  editorial  from  The  Bulletin,  the  monthly 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


journal  of  the  Japan  Society,  as  we  have  shown  in  the  pre 
ceding  chapter,  urged  its  thousand  distinguished  mem 
bers  to  become  subscribers  to  the  Japanese  Press  Bureau  : 
The  Japan  Society  in  this  way  becomes  a  confederate  of 
the  professional  publicity  bureaus  for  Japan,  indorsing 
and  spreading  its  propaganda,  frequently  reprinting  their 
press  sheet  articles  in  its  monthly  Bulletin. 

To  illustrate,  I  add  a  part  of  an  article  by  T.  lyenaga, 
reprinted  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  Japan  Society  in  January, 
jp/5,  when  the  United  States  was  aroused  by  the  rumour 
of  twenty-one  demands  which  Japan  had  made  upon 
China.  The  demands  had  been  made,  indeed,  but  when 
they  were  handed  to  Emperor  Yuan  Shih  Kai  he  was 
warned  by  Japan  to  keep  them  secret  on  penalty  of  imme 
diate  aggression  by  Japan.  This  threat  had  leaked  out, 
but  the  world  did  not  yet  know  what  these  demands  were. 
It  was  the  business  of  Japan's  press  agents  in  America  to 
keep  down  alarm  and  hold  back  action  by  other  nations 
until  Japan  could  make  the  whole  base  scheme  an  accom 
plished  fact.  In  the  light  of  the  truth  which  developed 
later,  this  article  by  lyenaga  proves  him  untrustworthy  in 
statement  and  shows  how  the  Japan  Society  joins  in  the 
effort  —  at  any  cost  —  to  defend  Japan's  course  whatever 
that  may  be. 

JAPAN'S  POLICY  IN  CHINA 

"The  fundamental  policy  of  Japan  toward  China,  it  can 
not  be  too  strongly  emphasized,  is  quite  opposed  to  what 
those  propagandists  for  China  claim  it  to  be.  It  is  no  other 
than  to  cement  the  bond  of  amity  and  friendship  between 
the  two  nations  and  properly  to  safeguard,  thereby,  their 
common  interests.  The  well  known  policy  of  maintaining 
China's  integrity  and  independence  and  the  'open  door' 
remains  to-day,  of  course,  the  same  as  it  was  during  the 
days  of  Hay  and  Komura.  Japan's  Chinese  policy,  there 
fore,  does  not  in  the  least  run  counter  to  that  of  America. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 123 

...  .  None  but  a  dullard  would  fail  to  grasp  the  immense 
benefits  that  would  accrue  to  Japan  from  close  friendship 
with  the  China  of  such  enormous  resources.  To  win  her 
friendship  and  to  prevent  European  encroachment  upon  her, 
therefore,  could  not  but  have  been  the  cornerstone  of  Japan's 
policy  toward  China!' — Dr.  Toyokichi  lyenaga  writing  in 
The  New  York  Tribune. 


This  article  was  reprinted  as  above  in  The  Bulletin. 
A  few  months  later  the  world  knew  a  part  of  the  truth. 
It  does  not  know  it  all  yet.  That  truth  was  clearly  stated 
by  Samuel  G.  Blythe  writing  from  Pekin  in  articles  pub 
lished  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post,  July  10  and  17, 
1915.  His  conclusions  are  corroborated  by  other  Amer 
ican  correspondents  who  were  in  the  Far  East  at  the  time; 
Thomas  F.  Millar d,  editor  of  The  China  Press  of  Shang 
hai,  and  author  of  several  books  on  the  Far  East;  Jeffer 
son  Jones  of  The  Minneapolis  Journal,  author  of  The  Fall 
of  Tsingtau;  Carl  Crow,  author  of  Japan  and  America — 
A,  Contrast.  They  have  been  reported  as  true  again  and 
again  by  the  ablest  correspondents  whom  the  greatest 
American  press  syndicates  can  send  to  Asia — Oscar  King 
Davis,  Gardner  L.  Harding,  George  Bronson  Rea  and 
others;  finally  by  the  whole  body  of  American  Mission 
aries  in  China  headed  by  such  men  as  Bishop  Bashford. 
Yet  these  Japanese  Press  bureaus,  and  a  few  Japanese 
missionaries  like  Dr.  Teusler  go  right  on  up  to  this  hour 
denying  palpable  facts  that  have  been  written  forever  into 
the  granite  of  history. 

"At  half  past  nine  o'clock,"  says  Mr.  Blythe,  "on  the 
morning  of  Sunday,  May  9,  1915,  China,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  and  as  the  forthcoming  years  will  show, 
went  on  the  dust  heap  of  nations.  After  fifty  centuries 
of  identity  as  a  sovereign  power,  China  handed  over 
enough  of  her  sovereignty  to  Japan  to  enable  Japan  by 


124.  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

reason  of  her  well  known  capabilities  in  such  matters  as 
illustrated  in  Korea  and  Manchuria,  to  assume  control 
of  this  tremendous  country  and  its  four  hundred  millions 
of  yellow  men.  .  .  .  The  policy  of  the  open  door  in 
China  and  the  preservation  of  the  territorial  integrity  of 
China,  as  originally  proposed  by  John  Hay,  will  cease. 
The  door  will  be  open  just  so  far  as  Japan  chooses  to 
open  it.  ...  The  Japanese  do  not  stop  when  they  have 
started.  They  have  a  big  hold  on  China  now.  If  they 
can  increase  it  as  they  hope  to  increase  it,  there  will  be  a 
repetition  of  the  Korean  incident  in  some  terms  or  other 
and  China  will  cease  to  be  China,  and  will  be  Sino-Japan 
or  Japan-Sino — which  describes  it  more  accurately.". 

Japan's  most  prolific  press  bureau,  however,  is  The 
Pacific  Press  Bureau  of  San  Francisco.  And  the  head  of 
it  is  the  same  as  the  head  of  The  Japanese  Association  of 
America,  K.  K.  Kawakami.  His  positions,  like  those  of 
lyenaga,  are  those  of  the  propagandist;  they  cannot  be 
impartial,  for  his  efficiency  is  measured  by  his  success  as 
a  partisan.  To  present  and  analyse  even  typical  items  in 
the  varied  work  of  this  one  man  would  require  more  space 
than  the  limits  of  this  book,  yet  it  would  pay  to  do  it.  He 
is  the  type  of  fearless,  schooled,  subtle,  adroit,  haughty, 
inconsistent,  aggressive,  Oriental-minded  Japanese,  with 
whom  the  diplomats  and  peoples  of  other  nations  must 
reckon — pointedly  denying  fact,  blandly  justifying  any 
means  by  the  end,  making  the  true  look  false  and  the  false 
true,  bent  on  one  thing — the  triumph  of  Japan  in  America. 
California  is  the  thorn  in  his  flesh  and  the  hate  within 
him  for  that  state  is  but  thinly  concealed ;  always  to  smile, 
yet  to  hit,  hit,  hit  her;  to  play  upon  the  false  harp  of 
stupid  American  sentiments;  to  write  and  write  and  dis 
tribute  his  material ;  and  with  the  artillery  tactics  of  Napo 
leon,  to  strike,  strike,  strike  in  one  place  until  the  line  is 
broken  and  the  victory  won. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  125 

His  first  play  on  sentiment  is  always  to  write  as  though 
he  were  a  full-blooded  American  with  ancestry  running 
back  to  the  Mayflower.  His  play  upon  "our"  and  "we" 
is  great.  "We  of  the  West  are  fond  of  calling  ourselves 
civilised  and  intellectual,  but  to  what  extent  have  we 
purged  ourselves  of  our  primitive  love  of  brute  force?"  1 
No,  he  is  not  speaking  of  Japan  and  her  brute  force  in 
Korea,  Formosa  and  China,  but  of  the  United  States. 

His  assimilation  of  the  United  States  in  "we"  and 
"our"  knows  no  limit.  "In  our  early  days  of  intercourse 
with  China  and  Japan,  our  policy  towards  the  Orient  was 
based  upon  the  Christian  principles  of  justice  and  right 
eousness."  2  With  sophomoric  fervor  he  writes  of  inter 
marriage,  "Here  and  there  the  marvelous  hands  of  love 
razed  the  barrier  of  prejudice  and  united  men  of  Japan 
and  'our  daughters'  in  the  sweet  bond  of  holy  wedlock." 
See  the  craft  of  that  appeal— "our  daughters!"  "The 
eternal  principles  embodied  in  our  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence!"3  "We  forced  open  the  doors  of  Japan,  now 
we  close  our  doors  to  the  Japanese!"  4  "It  was  this  sense 
of  justice  which  inspired  our  forefathers."  5  "Now  our 
doors  are  closed  alike  to  students  and  to  ordinary  immi 
gration."  6 

This  last  statement  is  wholly  untrue.  Passports  to 
America  are  secured  in  Japan  of  Japanese  officials.  The 
grant  or  refusal  depends  wholly  upon  the  Japanese;  the 
Gentleman's  Agreement  makes  no  discrimination  against 
students;  the  passports  are  not  vised  by  any  American 
officer  in  Japan.  When  the  Japanese  arrives  at  our  ports 

1Asia  at  the  Door,  page  27. 
2 1 bid.,  page  2g. 
*Ibid.,  page  30. 
*Ibid.,  page  31. 

8He  refers  to  Washington,  Jefferson,  Hamilton  and  their  con 
temporaries.  Page  35. 

'Asia  at  the  Door,  page  36. 


126 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

his  passport  is  accepted  at  face  value.  It  is  not  questioned 
or  investigated  and  he  is  admitted  to  do  what  he  pleases — 
to  enter  trades  or  go  to  school.  America  thus  depends 
wholly  on  the  gentlemanly  honour  of  the  other  party  to 
the  Gentleman's  Agreement.  This  sentimental  appeal  for 
tears  of  sympathy  is  a  part  of  the  subtlety  of  Kawakami. 

In  all  this  publicity  campaign  by  the  Japanese  Press 
Bureaus,  as  elsewhere,  there  is  fine  team  play  by  all  in 
the  game,  pitching  and  tossing  references  and  quotations 
one  to  another,  so  as  to  give  the  appearance  that  all  the 
"authorities"  are  on  their  list.  Whenever  any  one  tells 
the  truth  about  the  California  situation,  or  the  Japanese 
religion  and  morals,  or  of  Japan's  imperial  designs  on 
weaker  countries,  of  her  double  dealing  and  her  defence 
less  diplomacy,  he  is  sure  to  be  assailed  by  a  certain  group. 
It  begins  with  Kawakami  and  lyenaga,  who  contribute 
their  articles  to  Eastern  papers  and  magazines,  so  that  in 
their  Press  Sheets  sent  out  to  other  papers  these  articles 
appear  as  "quoted."  Then  follow  Gulick  and  GrifHs,  then 
Holt  and  Mabie,  and  the  Japan  Society  of  New  York  in 
its  Bulletins  and  books,  until  the  ball  is  passed  on  down  to 
Matthews,  Peabody,  and  Steiner,  to  the  Religious  and 
Peace  Societies,  whose  general  work  is  to  destroy  all  the 
so-called  "disturbers  of  brotherly  love."  The  phrases 
they  toss  about  are  well  known — like  calibres  of  shot — 
"uninformed,"  "ignorant,"  "unscientific,"  "full  of  race 
prejudice,"  "unworthy  of  notice,"  "belonging  to  a  past 
age,"  and  many  of  worse  import.  The  position  of  this 
group  is  always  one  of  superior  knowledge,  higher  spirit 
uality  and  larger  gift  of  "the  international  mind." 

Many  have  observed  recently  a  remarkable  coincidence : 
those  who  most  earnestly  support  Japan  are  opposed  to 
any  adequate  military  preparedness  by  our  own  country. 
The  whole  pro-Japanese  machine  is  worked  to  prevent  it. 
In  The  North  American  Review  for  May,  1916,  Kawa- 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 127 

kami  writes  on  "Shall  America  Arm  Against  Japan?"  He 
begins  by  saying  Americans  may  doubt  his  sincerity  and 
declares  he  is  truly  sincere,  devotedly  American  and  will 
state  only  facts.  Then  he  figures  Japan  almost  entirely 
out  of  any  navy  at  all  and  shows  ours  big  and  appalling. 
His  conclusion  is  that  it  is  stupid  folly  for  the  United 
States  to  build  any  more  navy.  The  article  is  so  trans 
parent  that  the  editor  himself  follows  it  with  mild  but 
clear  contradiction. 

This  general  use  of  the  peace  motif  happens  to  be  illus 
trated  in  a  single  article  published  in  the  Bulletin  of  the 
Japan  Society  for  January,  1916.  Its  author  is  Dr. 
William  Elliott  Griffis,  (he  who  tries  to  get  the  Japanese 
into  this  country  by  trying  to  prove  they  are  not  Mongo 
lians).  He  knew  America  would  never  stand  for  the 
course  Japan  was  then  taking  in  China  and  he  joined 
lyenaga,  already  quoted  in  the  same  number  of  the 
"Bulletin,"  in  an  attempt  to  forestall  the  effect  of  the  truth 
of  the  case  by  violently  calling  the  truth  a  "fresh  flood  of 
falsehoods,  calumnies,  misrepresentations  and  exaggera 
tions."  He  says  (the  italics  are  his)  "Our  nation  may 
yet  be  stampeded  into  a  reign  of  militarism  that  shall  pass 
beyond  all  reasonable  measures  of  preparation  and  de 
fence.  To  secure  this  aim  of  the  war  hawks,  it  will  be  a 
moral  necessity  to  defame  and  misrepresent  Japan.  The 
mere  fact  that  this  Oriental  country  has  taken  steps  to 
save  herself  from  being  blotted  out  as  an  independent  na 
tion,  and  has  halted  the  conquering  march  of  Occidental 
conquest  in  Asia — which  the  past  century  or  two  reveals 
— by  European  powers,  is,  though  specious,  a  sufficient 
argument  to  force  Congress  to  create  a  war  establishment 
not  very  different  from  Germany's.  We  must  be  pre 
pared,  in  1916,  for  a  fresh  Hood  of  falsehoods,  calumnies, 
misrepresentations  and  exaggerations.  I  find  that  seven- 
tenths  of  the  press  articles  hostile  to  Japan  are  downright 


128  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

falsehoods.  A  new  form  of  attack  is  to  boost  China  at 
the  expense  of  Japan.  Again  let  us  be  warned  that  for 
the  colossal  navy  and  army  now  demanded  by  many,  the 
bogey  of  'Japan's  sinister  purposes'  must  be  kept  dressed, 
painted  and  well  provided  by  wires  to  be  jerked,  especially 
when  the  bills  come  before  Congress." 

Thus  all  who  promote  the  Japanese  cause  are  intolerant 
against  those  who  stand  for  American  interests  against 
Japanese  aggression,  and  they  fall  into  the  Japanese 
mental  habits  and  forms  of  arguments.  Kawakami  is  a 
clear  and  delightful  illustration  of  this  method.  It  con 
sists  first  of  all  in  the  absolute  denial  of  fact,  or  in  divert 
ing  the  attention  from  the  fact;  or  the  belittlement  of 
great  matters  as  "the  mere  fact."  Or  they  begin  with  a 
compliment,  but  end  with  the  lash;  they  ask  for  much 
more  than  they  expect  to  get,  being  entitled  to  nothing; 
they  seek  religious  tolerance  for  barbarous  acts.  As  the 
quail  flutters  along  the  ground  at  your  feet  leading  you 
away  from  where  her  young  are  hiding  that  they  may 
escape  while  you  are  diverted,  so  by  pathetic  appeals  in 
directions  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  case,  these 
Japanese  propagandists  lead  the  thought  and  emotions 
away  from  their  covey  of  bad  deeds.  And  like  the  quail, 
that,  after  she  has  led  you  far  away  and  her  young  ones 
are  safely  hidden,  rises  and  sweeps  back  to  them,  so  the 
Japanese  at  the  proper  time  announce  their  true  course 
when  it  is  safely  established.  Then  with  an  assumption 
of  innocence  in  having  given  no  moral  offence  by  their 
deception  and  the  reversal  of  position,  they  justify  the 
means  by  the  end — with  the  argument  that  others  have 
done  worse  than  they. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  way  they  deny  fact  I  submit 
the  following  regarding  the  statements  of  Samuel  G. 
Blythe  in  The  Saturday  Evening  Post;  his  two  articles 
were  of  startling  fact  and  compelling  truth.  The  Jap- 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 129 

anese  felt  them  tearing  off  the  mask,  letting  Americans 
see  the  fearful  visage  of  the  Japanese  government  eating 
at  the  vitals  of  China.  So,  Mr.  K.  K.  Kawakami  wrote, 
printed  and  circulated  the  following  opiate  in  his  Press 
Sheet: 


"Ingenious  persons,  sometimes  belonging  to  the  commer 
cial,  sometimes  to  the  literary  world,  go  through  the  process 
of  discovering  China  and  Japan  anew,  and,  while  possessing 
the  slightest  possible  acquaintance  with  all  that  has  been 
said  and  written  on  the  subject  before,  proceed  to  unburden 
themselves  of  revelations  calculated  to  startle  the  world. 
The  last  example  of  this  class — Mr.  Samuel  G.  Ely  the,  has 
been  accorded  a  generous  allowance  of  the  Saturday  Evening 
Post  to  tell  his  story. 

"There  would  hardly  be  a  public  ready  to  accept  the  stuff 
palmed  off  upon  it  in  regard  to  the  affair  of  China,  but  for 
the  disposition  which  has  been  sedulously  fostered,  often 
in  pursuit  of  the  basest  ends,  to  regard  every  move  in  the 
foreign  policy  of  Japan  as  a  sinister  one.  The  atmosphere 
of  misconception  which  has  thus  been  created  is  not  only 
harmful  to  our  immediate  interests  but  may  create  some  very 
serious  dangers  for  the  future  peace  of  this  republic  .  .  . 
It  may  be  hoped  that  there  are  not  many  people  who  imagine 
with  Mr.  Ely  the  that  this  country1  has  voluminously 
assumed  a  sort  of  guardianship  of  China.  The  Chinese 
themselves  have  shown  a  dangerous  readiness  to  imbibe 
such  an  impression.  .  .  .  Mr.  Blythe  is  merely  the  latest 
of  his  tribe  to  accept  without  question  the  unfounded  belief, 
etc." 


Every  Japanese  in  America  who  can  write  or  speak 
English  belongs  to  this  system  of  publicity  and  campaign 
for  opinion.  The  writer  in  an  address  in  a  central  western 
state  once  challenged  the  editors  of  the  place  to  the  fact 

leaning  America. 


190      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

that,  knowingly  or  unknowingly,  they  had  aided  Japan's 
appeal  to  American  sentiment.  The  next  day  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  manager  of  a  great  hotel,  one  of  a  system  of 
such  hotels,  the  editor  of  one  of  the  papers  related  this 
instance:  "When  the  California  land  bill  was  before  the 
country,  the  Japanese  chef  in  this  hotel  came  to  me  two 
or  three  times  making  little  inquiries  of  how  I  stood 
regarding  the  Japanese,  if  the  people  of  the  town  liked 
them,  etc.  One  day  after  such  inquiry  he  drew  a  manu 
script  from  his  pocket  and  said,  'I  have  written  an  article 
here,  maybe  your  people  like  to  read  it.'  And  I  printed  it. 
It  was  a  general  plea  for  Japanese  as  against  California, 
etc/' 

"Yes,"  said  the  manager  of  the  hotel,  "he  was  receiving 
pay  from  Japan,  and  every  month  I  cashed  a  draft  given 
him  by  the  Japanese  Government.  He  grew  to  use  so 
much  time  over  his  books  and  papers  that  I  discharged 
him  and  he  at  once  entered  the  State  University." 

The  wide  distribution  of  Japanese  students  in  American 
colleges  is  a  significant  phase  and  a  great  aid  to  Japan 
in  this  campaign.  Every  student  is  a  centre  for  this  prop 
aganda,  their  presence  has  hindered,  in  some  colleges 
ended,  a  free,  open  discussion  of  Japan  and  the  Japanese. 
American  students  in  these  colleges  are  eager  to  hear  the 
whole  case,  but  the  faculties,  as  a  rule,  fear  something  may 
be  said  or  done  that  will  offend  their  Japanese  constitu 
ency.  Besides,  some  faculties  seem  to  have  a  general 
belief  that  any  one  who  is  not  strongly  for  Japan  is  wrong; 
something  after  the  Connecticut  Yankee,  who  when  asked 
to  support  a  Chautauqua,  said:  "Everybody  here  now 
knows  everything  about  everything,  and  anybody  who 
knows  anything  about  anything  else  is  wrong."  They  be 
lieve  that  any  so  called  "anti-Japanese"  will  be  a  disturber 
of  the  peace ;  they  may  not  know  what  such  an  one's  posi 
tion  is  or  how  gently  his  case  may  be  put,  but  mentally 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  131 

they  place  against  him  a  general  charge  of  ignorance  and 
evil  intent.  This  fact  has  come  to  me  not  once,  but  many 
times.  It  is  a  pitiful  surrender.  This  condition  some 
times  goes  on  down  through  the  high  schools  and  to  some 
extent  to  ranks  of  public  school  teachers.  There  have 
been  Californians,  men  of  University  degrees  with  public 
experience  and  irreproachable  character,  who  have  been 
denied  by  public  school  men  the  privilege  to  speak  on  this 
subject,  not  only  in  other  states,  but  in  California  itself. 
On  the  other  hand  in  no  case  that  has  ever  come  to  light 
from  University  down  to  the  grades  has  any  Japanese  or 
pro-Japanese  American  been  denied  the  same  privilege. 
So  you  may  measure  the  results  which  Japan's  appeals  to 
sentiment  are  now  having.  I  would  not  close  one  Amer 
ican  College  to  Japanese  students,  but  neither  would  I 
close  one  to  a  perfectly  candid  discussion  of  Japan's 
aggressions  and  weaknesses,  even  though  such  discussion 
might  result  in  the  withdrawal  of  every  Japanese  student 
from  America. 

The  Japanese  campaign  is  strengthened  by  the  presence 
not  only  of  Japanese  students  in  many  of  our  colleges,  but 
by  Japanese  who  are  members  of  our  faculties.  T. 
lyenaga,  head  of  the  Japanese  Press  Bureau  of  New 
York,  held  such  a  position  in  a  great  university  as  a 
teacher  on  America-Japanese  relations.  Japanese,  em 
ployed  in  colleges,  are  teaching  the  subjects  of  "Immi 
gration"  and  "American  Foreign  Relations."  Dr.  Ichi- 
hashi,  of  the  Leland  Stanford  University,  is  a  case  in 
point.  He  teaches  the  general  subject  of  "Immigration/' 
I  recently  had  a  conversation  with  one  of  the  students  who 
had  taken  his  course.  She  was  a  sweet-minded  young 
lady,  of  possibly  eighteen  or  nineteen;  I  found  her  en 
rapport  with  the  Japanese  singly  and  as  a  nation,  and 
wholly  persuaded  that  California  was  wrong  and  that  the 
Japanese  should  be  permitted  to  come  into  this  country  on 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


equal  terms  and  in  equal  numbers  with  all  other  people. 
She  stated  that  the  whole  of  Leland  Stanford  University 
is  as  highly  sympathetic  as  herself.  I  asked  her  what  rea 
sons  lay  in  her  mind  for  this  sympathy,  both  on  her  own 
part  and  that  of  the  University.  Her  answer  is  a  revela 
tion,  "I  do  not  know  where  I  got  the  idea,  whether  Ichi- 
hashi  gave  it,  or  which  of  the  Professors  gave  it,  but 
Stanford  is  grateful  to  the  Japanese  for  the  part  they 
played  in  the  establishment  of  the  University.  You  see 
Stanford  was  founded  by  Senator  Stanford,  who  made 
his  money  in  constructing  railroads,  and  it  was  the  Jap 
anese  labourers,  who  worked  for  him  in  building  the  rail 
roads,  that  enabled  him  to  make  the  profits  with  which 
the  University  is  now  endowed  !"  Seven  mature  persons 
besides  myself  heard  this  statement  made.  Is  it  not  ap 
palling?  The  fact  is  that,  at  the  time  when  Senator  Stan 
ford  had  finished  all  of  his  railroad  construction,  there 
were  not  a  total  of  a  thousand  Japanese  in  the  United 
States.  Thus,  stopping  up  or  poisoning  with  false  senti 
ment  the  very  springs  of  our  national  life  —  the  schools,  — 
Japan  proceeds  on  her  conquest  of  American  opinion. 

I  will  close  this  chapter  with  a  typical  illustration  of 
the  play  the  Japanese  Press  Agents  make  upon  tender 
sentiment.  It  is  a  story  taken  from  the  Press  Bureau 
matter  of  K.  K.  Kawakami,  one  of  many  such  he  distrib 
utes.  It  is  taken  from  his  paper,  The  Japanese  American 
News,  daily  and  Sunday,  which  carries  a  page  or  two  in 
English  from  which  articles  are  clipped  and  distributed 
to  the  newspapers  of  the  country.  The  following  was 
picked  up  from  such  a  group  of  clippings  that  were  found 
in  an  eastern  city.  It  will  well  repay  a  psychological 
analysis  in  any  class  room.  Study  especially  the  emotional 
force  but  foolishness  of  the  last  paragraph  —  for  that's 
what  the  story  is  written  for.  It  serves  to  tie  the  end  of 
this  chapter  to  the  beginning,  for  we  must  not  forget  the 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  133 

purpose  of  all  this  Press  Bureau  Campaign  which  this 
article  so  skilfully  drives  to  the  heart  is — to  secure  Amer 
ican  citizenship,  American  land,  American  economic 
advantages,  American  wives. 

THE  PASSING  OF  THE  YELLOW  PERIL  AT  MENTONE 
By  Miss  Nora  R.  Gray 

It  was  such  a  beautiful  place,  and  the  name  had  a  com 
forting  sound.  I  found  it  a  little  hard  to  realise  the  nature 
of  my  visit;  the  California  sun  recently  so  economical  of 
its  rays,  now  shone  with  unstinted  warmth  on  all  the  smil 
ing  valley ;  on  the  lawn  the  fountain  threw  its  shining  drops 
on  gay  and  chattering  blackbirds;  yellow  butterflies  chased 
and  played  on  beds  of  bright  carnations  nodding  gaily  at  the 
merry-making  crowd ;  a  great  red  rose  scattered  its  petals 
down  on  us  in  a  truly  carnival  shower,  and  the  wind  sent  a 
little  twitter  of  merriment  down  the  palm  branches;  young 
calves  frisked  in  green  alfalfa  fields,  and  all  over  the  beauti 
ful  San  Bernardino  Valley  there  was  an  ever-rising  tide  of 
leaf  and  flower,  of  life  and  beauty. 

The  Sister  Superior  who  met  us  did  not  seem  aware  of 
all  this  smiling  loveliness ;  she  had  but  come  from  a  little 
room  where  the  tide  of  life  was  running  swiftly  away  into  a 
much  quieter  and  darker  valley ;  as  we  came  to  stand  by  his 
bedside  he  let  his  eyes  rest  for  a  moment  on  the  group  of 
people  who  looked  down  on  his  slender,  youthful  form, 
almost  too  frail  and  boyish  to  make  this  dark  crossing  over 
a  river  now  running  very  swiftly,  indeed,  down  the  dark 
valley;  his  eyes  rested  with  almost  a  smile  on  good  Father 
Breton,  who  had  come  from  Los  Angeles  to  comfort  him  in 
his  passage  from  this  gay  and  happy  California  valley  to 
"The  Valley  of  the  Shadow" ;  on  his  own  people  whose  loyal 
friendship  had  done  all  that  human  hearts  and  human  hands 
could  do  to  make  his  going  easier;  on  the  head  of  Mt.  San 
Bernardino  now  sinking  to  rest  in  beds  of  sombre  blueness, 
and,  perhaps,  on  the  long  line  of  orange  trees  where  so 
recently  he  had  helped  to  harvest  the  wealth  of  California; 


134.  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

I,  too,  looked  down  that  row  of  shining  greenness,  but  I 
saw  an  island  in  the  sea,  and  a  little  home,  such  a  little  place, 
to  which  a  boy  in  America  had  sent  money  to  help  keep  the 
family  together;  I  knew  of  the  first  forty  dollars  that  went 
across  the  sea,  and  seemed  a  little  fortune  to  the  father, 
often  earning  much  less  than  ten  dollars  a  month  of  our 
money ;  more  also  I  knew  of  the  sacrifice  the  boy  had  made 
to  put  the  little  home  beyond  the  reach  of  want,  and  it  was 
not  so  long  ago  the  draft  for  three  hundred  dollars  sped 
across  the  sea  to  the  little  mother,  wealth  to  her  almost 
beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice,  and  placing  the  home  on  a 
sure  foundation  of  prosperity. 

The  long  rows  of  orange  trees  will  know  him  no  more; 
the  wheels  of  this  puzzling  machine  we  call  western  civilisa 
tion  will  turn  no  more  for  him ;  it  was  always  a  little  hard 
for  him  to  understand  this  machine ;  he  could  not  see  just 
why  we  wanted  the  wheels  to  turn  so  fast,  but  he  kept  the 
laws  that  keep  the  machine  moving,  and  hid  all  the  puz 
zling  things  in  his  heart ;  now  there  is  nothing  more  to  ponder 
over;  safe  in  the  haven  of  that  church  whose  love  and 
charity  has  never  known  the  word  Race;  his  last  look  is  on 
that  Saviour  whose  loving  heart  carried  the  sorrows  of  all 
the  world.  Father  Breton's  words  sound  quite  loud  and 
clear,  full  of  faith  and  love,  calling  to  a  tired  little  boy  to 
be  not  afraid,  and  to  pass  over  in  peace  to  a  wonderful 
valley  where  he  can  pick  the  fruit  from  "The  Tree  of  Life," 
and  now  I  look  down  on  a  face  very  peaceful,  but  just  a  little 
weary  and  a  line  from  the  Lotus  Gospel  comes  singing 
through  my  mind,  "Transient  are  all ;  they  being  born  must 
die;  being  born  are  dead,  and  being  dead  are  glad  to  be  at 
rest." 

When  the  little  mother  in  the  home  across  the  sea  hangs 
out  the  paper  lanterns  and  sets  the  little  home  in  order  for 
the  "Feast  of  the  Return  of  the  Dead,"  one  will  return  from 
a  happy  California  valley. 

The  German  Kaiser  can  rest  a  little  better  in  his  bed  to 
night  ;  California  can  breathe  a  little  easier ;  there  is  one  less 
Japanese,  and  it  will  take  such  a  little  bit  of  land  for  him  I 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  135 

do  not  think  you  will  need  to  make  laws  regulating  it.  If 
he  had  lived  he  might  have  been  a  check  to  German  Im 
perialism;  might  have  become  "Master  of  the  Pacific"; 
might  have  closed  the  door  in  China;  might  even  have 
wished  to  own  a  little  home  in  California,  so  there  is  a  sound 
of  security  for  you  in  the  sound  of  the  clods  falling  on  his 
coffin ;  as  for  me,  he  was  my  friend,  and  I  shall  grieve  for 
him. 

— The  Japanese  American  News,   September   12,   1915. 
No.  5674.    Sunday  Supplement. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  APPEAL  TO  PEACE 

RELATION  OF  THE  PEACE  MOVEMENT  TO  THE  JAPANESE 
CAMPAIGN 

I  GIVE  myself  body  and  soul  to  the  cause  of  Peace.  I 
stand  squarely  against  any  course  that  may  lead  to  any 
war  and  especially  against  every  tendency  toward  an 
American-Japanese  war.  In  a  war  with  Japan  my  son 
and  myself  would  be  in  the  fifst  line;  my  wife,  daughters, 
home,  friends,  and  property  within  the  first  field  of  sacri 
fice.  Both  in  public  and  private  I  refrain  from  discussing 
the  Japanese  problem  from  the  standpoint  of  war.  The 
threats  and  predictions  so  constantly  upon  the  tongues  of 
Kawakami,  Holt,  Mabie,  Gulick  and  the  others  can  pro 
duce  no  good  in  the  alarm  they  are  meant  to  create  and 
the  hate  they  inevitably  engender.  But  no  one  who 
chooses  only  and  always  to  avoid  war  can  make  a  straight 
course  through  the  treacherous  seas  of  national  and  inter 
national  life  toward  ultimate  civilisation. 

War  is  the  name  for  a  breakdown  on  the  way  to  civil 
isation.  For  the  whole  definition  of  civilisation  is — Such 
a  development  of  the  perceptions,  morals  and  manners  of 
men  and  nations  that  they  may  pursue  the  divine  aspira 
tions  of  life  in  peace.  War  destroys  every  concept  in  the 
definition — development,  perceptions,  morals,  manners, 
men,  nations,  divine  aspirations,  life  and  peace.  War  is 
in  itself  wholly  an  evil.  The  best  that  ever  can  be  said  of 
it  is  that  sometimes  it  may  be  the  less  of  two  evils  between 
which  nations  may  have  to  choose. 

At  this  last  statement  the  different  disciples  of  peace 

136 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 157 

part  company.  The  professional  pacifist  never  chooses 
war.  To  him  there  is  no  greater  evil  than  war,  and  what 
ever  the  peace  course  offers  he  accepts.  Destruction  of 
property,  death  in  battle,  are  for  him  sacrifices  too  great 
to  be  made  for  anything  whatsoever.  In  this  argument, 
which  they  derive  from  Christianity,  they  destroy  the 
glory  of  the  Cross  itself.  The  Cross  will  ever  draw  with 
irresistible  power  because  the  Prince  of  Peace  willingly 
gave  his  life  to  attain  an  object  higher  in  value  than  bodily 
life.  If  the  Bible  as  a  whole  teaches  anything,  it  teaches 
the  infinitely  superior  value  of  truth  and  righteousness 
over  the  individual  earthly  life  that  may  needs  be  sacri 
ficed  to  establish  them  for  others. 

The  hope  of  international  peace,  the  crusade  toward  it, 
the  idea  that  it  may  be  secured  by  the  arbitration  of  war 
problems  are  old  indeed.  A  friend  one  day  took  from  my 
library  a  volume  from  a  set  of  volumes  compiled  under 
the  name  of  William  Jennings  Bryan  and  containing  the 
great  orations  of  history.  He  read  an  argument  persuad 
ing  that  all  troubles  between  nations  should  be  settled  by 
the  peaceful  counsels  of  their  leading  men.  "Who  wrote 
that?"  said  he.  "Mr.  Bryan,"  said  I.  "It  must  be  his 
introduction."  But  no,  it  was  a  Greek  statesman  and 
orator  who  lived  centuries  before  the  Christian  era. 

In  the  seventeenth  century,  A.  D.,  the  peace  movement 
took  definite  form.  Hugo  Grotius,  called  the  founder  of 
international  law,  published  his  great  book,  "On  the 
Rights  of  War  and  Peace";  George  Fox  preached  uni 
versal  peace  and  founded  the  Society  of  Friends,  with 
peace  as  its  central  idea;  William  Penn  began  his  Holy 
Experiment  of  Peace  in  America. 

The  eighteenth  century  gave  to  the  peace  cause  Larke, 
Leibnitz,  Montesquieu  in  philosophy ;  Lessing  and  Herder 
in  poetry,  and  Kant's  great  essay,  "Perpetual  Peace." 

The    nineteenth    century    accelerated    the    movement. 


138  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

"For  every  peace  idealist  whose  name  comes  to  us  from 
the  two  previous  centuries,  the  nineteenth  furnishes 
scores.  Noah  Worcester,  William  Ladd,  Jonathan  Dy- 
mond,  William  E.  Channing,  Charles  Sumner,  Adin 
Ballou,  Thomas  C.  Upham,  Elihu  Burritt,  William  Jay, 
John  Bright,  Richard  Cobden,  Henry  Richard,  Hodgson 
Pratt,  Victor  Hugo,  Charles  Lemonier,  Frederic  Passy, 
Bertha  von  Suttner,  David  Dudley  Field,  E.  T.  Moneta, 
Fredrik  Najer,  Sheldon  Amos,  Bluntschli,  Leone  Levi, 
Leo  Tolstoy,  John  de  Bloch,  and  Nicholas  II.,  to  mention 
no  others,  all  were  primarily  peace  idealists."  1 

But  the  twentieth  century  is  the  Peace  Movement  Cen 
tury.  The  first  fifteen  years  of  it  have  seen  that  move 
ment  develop  a  thousandfold.  A  suggestion  of  what  it 
now  is  in  regard  to  organisations  may  be  gained  from  The 
Peace  Year  Book,  for  it  requires  a  long  volume  to  give 
even  brief  synopses  of  the  societies  and  agencies  that  are 
now  working  for  peace.  There  are  registered  hundreds 
of  them,  representing  all  the  countries  of  the  world. 

The  first  organisation  in  America  was  the  American 
Peace  Society.  It  was  founded  in  1815,  organised  in 
1828,  chartered  as  a  corporation  in  1848.  It  now  has 
10,000  members.  About  it  are  federated  the  other  soci 
eties — national,  state,  church  and  school.  "To-day  this 
society,  with  headquarters  at  Washington,  is  an  incorpo 
rated  organisation,  with  five  equipped  'Departments'  in 
our  United  States,  thirty-three  'Constituent  Branch' 
societies,  twenty-two  *  Section'  societies,  three  'Auxiliary' 
branches,  and  six  other  'Co-operating'  societies.  This 
society  initiates  the  American  peace  congresses,  attempts 
to  co-operate  with  the  Government,  and  to  influence  legis 
lation  in  behalf  of  arbitrations  and  international  good 
will.  It  maintains  a  lecture  bureau,  a  library  of  peace 

^Historic  Development  of  The  Peace  Idea,  by  Berry  F.  Trueblood, 
LL.D, 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 139 

information,  and  distributes  tons  of  literature  to  writers, 
speakers,  schools,  colleges,  and  libraries.  It  is  organising 
new  peace  societies  as  speedily  as  possible;  and  it  issues 
the  Advocate  of  Peace  monthly,  to  a  rapidly  increasing 
list  of  subscribers."  1 

Three  things  above  all  now  pertain  to  our  discussion : 
First,  this  intricate  co-ordination  of  peace  and  other  so 
cieties  and  forces.  Second,  the  ideas,  motives  and  machin 
ery  behind  them.  Third,  the  specific  propaganda  they  are 
striving  to  put  into  American  politics. 

James  L.  Tryon,  head  of  one  of  the  great  Departments 
of  the  American  Peace  Society,  in  an  introduction  to  The 
Peace  Movement  in  America,  by  Julius  Moritzen,  says : 
"The  American  Peace  Society,  by  the  adoption  of  a  new 
Constitution  at  Washington  on  May  10,  1912,  has  become 
through  its  directorate  a  National  Peace  Council.  The 
society  may  properly  be  called  a  national  federation  for 
Peace.  Besides  extending  its  state  society  system 
throughout  the  Union,  it  has  invited  to  its  directorate 
not  only  representatives  of  local  Peace  Societies,  but 
representatives  of 

The  Carnegie  Endowment  of  International  Peace, 

The  World  Peace  Foundation, 

The  Mohonk  Arbitration  Conference, 

The  American  Association  for  International  Concilia 
tion, 

The  American  Society  for  Judicial  Settlement  of  Inter 
national  Disputes,  and 

The  American  School  Peace  League. 

"Other  large  peace  organisations,  whether  formed  on  a 
membership  plan  or  operated  as  institutions,  are  also  to 
be  included  in  its  comprehensive  plan  of  reorganisation. 
When  an  arbitration  treaty  or  kindred  matter  comes 

Arthur  Deerin  Call,  Executive  Secretary  of  the  American  Peace 
Society,  in  Advocate  of  Peace,  Vol.  LXXV.  No.  10. 


140  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

before  the  Senate  or  Congress  the  peace  and  arbitration 
sentiment  of  the  whole  country  can  be  brought  to  bear 
with  an  effect  as  never  before.  Education  of  public  senti 
ment  in  the  new  internationalism  will  go  on  with  less 
waste  and  duplication  than  formerly." 

Here  is  announced  a  fact  of  incalculable  importance,  to 
wit;  The  Peace  movement  opens  the  twentieth  century 
with  a  radical  change  in  its  character  from  that  of  the 
seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries.  Then 
it  was  a  teacher  to  educate  public  opinion;  now  it  is  an 
enormous  organisation  to  act  upon,  form,  and  control  the 
machinery  of  government. 

No  fact  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  in  this  cen 
tury  has  more  significance  than  that.  It  surpasses  in 
importance  changes  of  Presidents  and  Congresses,  polit 
ical  parties,  and  their  platforms. 

Now  there  are  present  in  the  Peace  Societies  named 
above  two  elements  of  a  trust — the  financial  backing  from 
one  source,  and  the  common  management  from  one  set  of 
men  in  an  interlocking  directorate.  The  greater  of  these 
forces  is  the  money  support.  The  man  who  pays  the  bills 
can  dictate  the  policies  and  manipulate  the  machinery  with 
its  hundreds  of  salaried  secretaries  and  employees.  That 
man,  more  than  any  other,  more  than  all  others,  is  Mr. 
Andrew  Carnegie. 

The  impetus  which  has  carried  the  peace  movement  in 
America  from  its  weak  status  twenty  years  ago  to  its  pres 
ent  vast  energies,  was  given  it  by  the  millions  of  Andrew 
Carnegie — supplemented  by  other  millions  from  other 
men.  Benevolences,  like  games  or  clothes,  go  by  fashion. 
Sometimes  they  court  churches,  sometimes  colleges,  and 
now  Peace  Societies  and  Social  Foundations. 

Now  Mr.  Carnegie  has  a  wonderful  master  passion.  It 
is  to  reunite  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  under 
one  government,  one  ruler,  one  army,  one  navy,  and  one 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  141 

policy  behind  all.  In  1893,  before  he  had  made  his  Peace 
Endowments,  he  gave  the  world,  in  The  North  American 
Reviezv,  this  great  vision,  and  to  its  realisation  made  the 
following  pledge : 

"Whatever  obstructs  reunion,  I  oppose;  whatever  pro 
motes  reunion,  I  favor.  I  judge  all  political  questions  from 
this  standpoint.  All  party  divisions  sink  into  nothingness  in 
my  thoughts  compared  with  the  reunion  of  our  race." 

"Let  men  say  what  they  will,  therefore,  I  say  that  as  surely 
as  the  sun  in  the  heavens  once  shone  upon  Britain  and 
America  united,  so  surely  it  is  one  morning  to  rise,  shine 
upon,  and  greet  again  the  reunited  state — 'The  British  Amer 
ican  Union'."  1 

This  is  the  inspiration  of  the  Carnegie  Peace  Move 
ment,  the  key  to  its  attitudes  and  its  energies.  As  one 
reads  Mr.  Carnegie's  argument  in  full,  he  feels  the  fervor 
of  his  enthusiasm. 

"A  reunion  of  the  Anglo-Americans,  .  .  .  consisting 
to-day  of  one  hundred  and  eight  millions,  which  fifty  years 
hence  will  number  more  than  two  hundred  millions,  would 
be  unassailable  upon  land  by  any  power  or  combination  of 
powers  that  it  is  possible  to  create.  We  need  not,  therefore, 
take  into  account  attacks  upon  the  land ;  as  for  the  water 
the  combined  fleets  would  sweep  the  seas.  The  new  nation 
would  harvest  from  the  world  its  greatest  stain — the  murder 
of  men  by  men.  It  would  be  the  arbiter  between  nations, 
and  enforce  the  peaceful  settlement  of  all  quarrels,  saying 
to  any  disputants  who  threatened  to  draw  the  sword : 

"  'Hold !    I  command  you  both, 

The  one  that  stirs  makes  me  his  foe. 
Unfold  to  me  the  cause  of  quarrel 
And  I  will  judge  betwixt  you'." 


lNorth  American  Review.    June,  1893. 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


Without  assailing  the  motives  of  Mr.  Carnegie,  or  criti 
cising  his  master  passion,  we  must  note  deeply  the  fact 
which  he  confesses,  namely,  that  he  judges  all  political 
questions  from  the  standpoint  of  the  reunion  of  Great 
Britain  and  America;  and  he  directs  his  mighty  money 
power  to  that  end.  His  peace  power  is  a  political  power 
with  a  definite  plan.  Very  recently  we  have  had  a  fine 
illustration  of  the  use  of  that  power. 

The  controversy  over  the  repeal  of  the  Panama  Tolls 
Act  was  before  Congress  in  the  Spring  of  1914.  It  arose 
because  England  objected  to  our  grant  of  free  tolls  to  our 
own  coastwise  trade  through  the  Panama  Canal.  The 
Act  had  but  recently  passed.  The  Republicans  had 
pledged  themselves  to  pass  it;  the  Progressives  in  the 
campaign  of  1912  declared  for  it;  it  was  a  clear-cut  plank 
in  the  Democratic  platform  upon  which  Mr.  Woodrow 
Wilson  was  elected  to  the  Presidency.  Thus  it  seemed 
definitely  settled  and  fixed  as  an  American  policy. 

But  England  objected.  Surely  there  was  no  cause  or 
fear  of  war  with  her  because  she  so  objected.  Yet  the 
law  was  repealed  and  England's  contention  was  allowed. 
How  could  there  be  such  a  reversal  of  opinion? 

Mr.  Elihu  Root  of  New  York,  who  was  Secretary  of 
State  under  Theodore  Roosevelt,  and  who  was  a  United 
States  Senator  when  the  Panama  Tolls  Act  was  passed 
and  when  it  was  repealed,  is  the  President  of  the  Carnegie 
Endowment  for  International  Peace  ;  he  had  been  the  legal 
adviser  of  Mr.  Carnegie  in  great  business  affairs. 

Mr.  James  Brown  Scott,  who  was  Solicitor  of  the  De 
partment  of  State  when  Mr.  Root  was  Secretary  of  State, 
is  the  Executive  Secretary  of  the  Carnegie  Endowment 
and  head  of  its  most  important  department  of  work  (the 
Department  of  International  Law),  and  he  was  a  dele 
gate  to  the  Hague  Conference  of  1907.  He  presides  over 
the  distribution  of  $500,000  per  year  which  is  the  income 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  143 

from  the  ten  millions  of  dollars  of  United  States  Steel 
bonds  with  which  Mr.  Carnegie  made  the  endowment. 

Senator  Root  voted  against  the  Free  Tolls  Act  when  it 
was  passed  and  attacked  it  soon  after.  But,  on  January 
21,  1913,  after  the  whole  matter  seemed  forever  settled, 
he  startled  the  whole  country  in  an  elaborate  speech  in  the 
Senate,  urging  the  United  States  to  reverse  itself  on  free 
tolls.  The  Carnegie  Endowment,  through  James  Brown 
Scott,  distributed  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  million  copies 
(715,602)  of  that  speech  throughout  the  United  States, 
sending  some  to  Europe.  It  was  printed  in  the  U.  S. 
Government  printing  office  and  it  was  mailed  under  the 
Senatorial  frank  of  Senator  Root. 

This  was  followed,  on  March  15,  1913,  by  a  statement 
signed  by  some  of  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  Endowment  declaring  for  the  repeal  of  the  law. 
Of  this,  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  (1,200,000) 
copies  were  distributed.1  Both  distributions  were  author- 


distribution  has  great  interest  as  it  shows  what  a  powerful 
scientific  lobby  to  influence  legislation,  having  $500,000  a  year  to 
spend,  regards  as  the  best  way  to  affect  the  acts  of  Congress. 

Report  on  distribution  of  statement  of  Trustees  on  Panama  toll 
question 

Associated  Press  (250  for  foreign  newspapers) 1,020 

International  News  Service 265 

New  York  Sun  Press  Association 75 

United  Press  Service 20 

One  copy  to  each  Representative  and  Senator,  sent  to  his 

home  address 531 

Distributed  by  the  division  of  intercourse  and  education...  l,ooo 

Distributed  by  the  Paris  bureau 1,000 

Mr.  F.  F.  Kane,  of  the  Philadelphia  bar  (for  campaign  work 

in    Philadelphia) 500 

Isthmian  Canal  Commission 30 

British    Embassy 30 

Department  of  State 20 

Representative  Sims 20 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


ised  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Carnegie  Endow 
ment.  This  whole  interference  with  our  Government  was 
investigated  by  Congress  under  Senate  Resolution  No.  92 
of  the  Sixty-third  Congress  by  a  sub-committee  of  the 
Judiciary  under  the  title  "Maintenance  of  a  Lobby  to 
Influence  Legislation."  It  forms  a  document  of  great 
value. 

These  acts  interpret  in  deeds  Mr.  Tryon's  statement  of 
the  purpose  of  the  Endowment  and  the  co-ordination  of 
the  peace  bodies,  to-wit  :  "When  an  arbitration  treaty  or 
kindred  matter  comes  before  the  Senate  or  Congress,  the 
peace  and  arbitration  sentiment  of  the  whole  country  can 
be  brought  to  bear  with  an  effect  as  never  before."  The 
Carnegie  Peace  forces  regarded  the  free  tolls  contention 
as  an  impediment  in  the  way  to  the  reunion  of  Great 
Britain  and  America,  and  its  power  was  "brought  to 
bear."  The  result  was  a  triumphant  success,  and  is  a  fair 
measure  of  that  power.  It  overturned  an  act  of  Congress. 
It  made  a  Democratic  Congress  break  its  platform  pledge. 


Metropolitan    Club 20 

Booksellers 20 

Massachusetts  Peace  Society 1,600 

Farmers    337>ooo 

Lawyers    110,000 

Bank  directors 85,000 

Physicians    I37,ooo 

Clergymen    95,ooo 

County  school  superintendents 3>590 

Country  general  stores 152,000 

Dentists    40,000 

Druggists   48,000 

Real  estate  agents 73,ooo 

Newspapers  and  periodicals  (excepting  dailies) 25,000 

Chambers  of  commerce  and  boards  of  trade 1,500 

Manufacturers   95>ooo 

Making  approximately 1,208,145 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  145 

It  turned  President,  Republicans,  Progressives,  and  Demo 
crats  alike  against  their  former  positions,  and  changed  the 
policy  of  the  United  States. 

There  are  other  clear  instances  of  the  exercise  of  this 
Peace  power.  In  the  Summer  and  Winter  of  1915  it  put 
its  hand  upon  the  Chautauqua  and  lyceum  platforms  of 
the  United  States.  These  have  been  entirely  free  from 
endowments  for  special  propaganda,  bonuses,  subsidies, 
or  commercial  influences,  and  are  the  most  nearly  free  of 
all  American  Institutions  for  the  expression  of  public 
opinion.  Without  comment  I  shall  let  an  editorial  in  the 
Chicago  Tribune  (January  24,  1915)  tell  the  remainder 
of  this  story: 

"The  following  announcement  comes  to  the  Tribune: 
"A  thousand  addresses  by  more  than  a  hundred  lecturers 
and  college  professors,  supplemented  by  literature  for  the 
promotion  of  a  better  understanding  of  international  rela 
tions,  have  been  arranged  by  the  Carnegie  Endowment  for 
International  Peace  as  part  of  a  nation-wide  campaign 
against  war  this  summer.  More  than  1,600  Chautauqua  plat 
forms  are  to  be  the  centres  of  lectures  and  debates  on  the 
subject,  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  Chautauqua  audiences 
will  aggregate  4,000,000. 

"This  endowment  has  engaged  specialists  to  lecture  at 
thirty-nine  universities,  seventeen  colleges,  and  eleven 
normal  schools  during  summer  sessions,  the  audiences  being 
in  the  main  teachers.  Y.  M.  C.  A.  summer  training  schools 
also  will  be  reached,  and  forty  college  'international  polity' 
clubs  already  have  been  organised  by  the  endowment  repre 
sentatives. 

"The  endowment  refers  to  this  activity  as  a  'non-par 
tisan  investigation  of  war  and  peace/  and  Dr.  Nicholas 
Murray  Butler,  one  of  the  leading  agents  of  the  Carnegie 
pacifist  propaganda,  makes  the  following  fair-seeming  com 
ment: 

"The  work  which  we  are  undertaking  is  purely  educa- 


146  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

tional,  scientific,  non-partisan.  We  want  to  know  as  a  scien 
tific  fact  whether  it  is  true  that  man  must  go  on  settling  his 
differences  forever  by  war.  If  this  should  turn  out  not  to  be 
scientifically  true,  we  want  to  know  how  man  is  going  to 
give  the  war  method  up,  and  what  he  can  substitute  for  it. 

"In  this  guise  this  movement  would  be  welcomed  by  all 
friends  of  knowledge  and  of  righteous  peace.  But  if  the 
past  performances  and  policy  of  this  Carnegie  endowment 
are  not  to  be  reversed,  the  proceedings  will  be  neither  an 
'investigation'  nor  'non-partisan.'  A  true  'investigation' 
does  not  start  with  its  conclusions  made  up,  nor  can  such 
proceeding  be  called  'non-partisan.'  The  Carnegie  endow 
ment  is  not  engaged  in  investigation,  but  in  propaganda,  and 
its  most  prominent  agents,  Dr.  Jordan,  for  example,  dog 
matise  with  a  freedom  and  sweeping  conclusiveness  that  no 
propagandist  surpasses. 

"Dr.  Butler's  remark  that  'we  want  to  know  as  a  scien 
tific  fact  whether  it  is  true  that  a  man  must  go  on  settling 
his  differences  forever  by  war'  is  a  typical  utterance  of  this 
school  of  pacifists.  Whether  it  is  incurable  naivete  or  dis- 
ingenuousness  that  permits  such  a  statement  is  hard  to  tell. 
But  that  a  leading  university  president  should  assume  that  it 
can  be  established  as  a  'scientific  fact'  whether  or  not  man 
kind  must  'go  on  settling  his  differences  forever  by  war/ 
and  that  this  question  can  be  settled  by  a  regiment  of  college 
professors  and  lecturers  on  international  law,  is  an  astonish 
ing  expression  of  American  official  scholarship.  The  use  of 
the  term  'scientific'  in  such  connection  smacks  unpleasantly 
of  quack  thought. 

"The  more  serious  consideration  presented  by  this  an 
nouncement,  however,  is  the  effect  of  a  propaganda  thus  dis 
guised  upon  the  national  thought  and  morale.  That  the 
American  public  needs  education  in  our  history  and  interna 
tional  relations  is  only  too  evident.  But  it  needs  open-minded 
education,  not  propaganda  in  the  disguise  of  scientific  investi 
gation,  propaganda  which  throws  facts  out  of  perspective, 
puts  conclusions  in  place  of  facts,  and  hides  relevant  realities 
behind  a  roseate  glow  of  emotional  altruism. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 147 

"Another  serious  consideration  is  the  fact  that  this  propa 
ganda  is  directed  in  a  noticeable  degree  by  and  at  teachers, 
an  adroit  strategy  which  will  result,  if  not  energetically 
counteracted,  in  a  maximum  of  influence  upon  the  thought 
of  the  young  and  impressionable,  who  can  draw  for  self- 
protection  neither  upon  experience  nor  upon  corrective 
knowledge/' 


Likewise  "education  of  public  sentiment"  is  going  on 
in  the  case  of  Japan,  by  the  same  general  forces,  in  the 
same  general  course.  It  is  a  conspicuous  fact  that  those 
who  are  most  active  in  their  denunciation  of  California 
and  loudest  in  their  support  of  Japan,  are  in  the  peace 
movement,  and  many  of  them  are  the  most  active  men  in 
it.  They  even  explain  their  Japanese  campaign  as  a  neces 
sary  part  of  the  duties  of  the  Peace  Societies.  They  hold 
that  whatever  contention  may  bring  disfavour  for  us 
in  Japan  must  be  yielded.  Many  of  them  go  so  far  as  to 
say  the  problem  must  not  be  discussed  at  all  unless  favour 
ably  to  Japan,  and  several  have  refused  to  have  the  Amer 
ican  case  stated  before  an  American  audience  unless  a 
Japanese  be  present  to  make  reply.  What  other  body  of 
propagandists  carries  its  intolerance  so  far? 

These  men  also  stand  for  the  mixture  of  races,  and 
their  common  residence  together  in  all  lands.  How  could 
they  from  their  premises  reach  any  other  conclusion? 
Mr.  William  I.  Hull,  of  Swarthmore  College,  President 
of  the  Peace  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  on  April  15,  1916, 
made  these  two  declarations  in  an  address :  "I  want  you 
to  understand  that  I  am  a  peace-at-any-price  man;"  and, 
arguing  the  newest  of  all  the  recent  fallacies,  he  said, 
"The  sin  of  the  age  is  nationality."  These  two  ideas  are 
consistent.  The  removal  of  all  national  lines  and  units, 
the  blend  of  all  civilisations,  the  mixture  of  all  races; 
America,  the  home  of  all  men  on  their  own  terms,  as  the 


148  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

price  for  peace!  Though  even  that  price  will  not  bring 
universal  peace,  nor  insure  peace  in  America,  yet  from 
such  major  premises  the  easy  support  of  the  whole  Jap 
anese  contention  is  the  logical  course  of  the  peace  move 
ment,  and  rapidly  the  whole  peace  party  is  aligning  itself 
with  Japan. 

Thus  it  is  that  Mr.  Hamilton  Holt's  pamphlet  making 
a  plea  for  the  immigration  and  naturalisation  of  Japanese 
is  printed  and  distributed  by  one  of  Mr.  Carnegie's  peace 
societies;  and  his  lectures,  in  which  he  urges  the  same 
course,  are  paid  for  by  the  Carnegie  Endowment.  Mr. 
Gulick's  propaganda  is  indorsed  and  distributed  by  the 
various  units  of  the  American  Peace  Society  and  the 
Church  Peace  Union,  all  drawing  their  financial  life  from 
the  same  source.  Some  of  the  directors  of  these  Amer 
ican  Peace  Societies  are  members  of  the  Peace  Societies 
of  Japan,  and  Japan  accepts  no  half-way  measures. 

The  activity  of  the  Carnegie  peace  interests  in  behalf 
of  Japan  has  taken  the  form  of  a  press  agency  and  polit 
ical  bureau.  In  mid- August,  1916,  The  American  Peace 
Society  distributed  to  the  press  a  twenty  page  pamphlet 
entitled  "War  with  Japan."  It  is  an  epitome  of  all  the 
pro-Japanese  material  now  afloat.  It  was  sent  out  with 
this  request:  "You  are  invited  to  quote  from  this  pam 
phlet  liberally.  The  Japanese  say  'it  explains  the  Japanese 
situation  exactly  as  we  ourselves  would  like  to  present  it.' 
This  pamphlet  is  being  liberally  distributed  in  Japan  by 
the  Japanese  Ambassador  and  has  been  referred  to  the 
personal  attention  of  President  Wilson."  l 


*An  indication  of  the  logic  and  quality  of  this  pamphlet  may  be 
seen  in  two  quotations.  The  author  produces  that  usual  opiate  to 
quiet  alarms,  the  statement  that  the  Japanese  are  not  fighting  to  get 
into  America,  and  will  not  come;  all  they  want  is  the  RIGHT  to 
come;  he  says:  "Japan  has  never,  even  in  the  face  of  California's 
most  drastic  agitation  and  legislation,  professed  her  intention  of 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 149 

A  week  later  it  sent  out  an  "immediate  release"  an 
nouncing  a  new  organisation  named  The  Women's  Inter 
national  Friendship  League,  designed  to  capture  the 
women  voters  of  America.  I  reproduce  the  first  and  last 
parts  verbatim: 

For  Immediate  Release.  August  3,  1916. 

"The  American  Peace  Society  offers  you  the  following 
information  for  publication,  and  will  appreciate  your  use  of 
it  in  your  territory : 

WOMEN   VOTERS   AND  THE   JAPANESE   QUESTION 

"A  movement  especially  designed  to  reach  the  women 
voters  of  this  country  and  to  place  before  them  the  Jap 
anese  situation  is  announced  by  Miss  Josephine  C.  Locke,  of 
2388  Champlain  Street,  Washington,  D.  C.,  in  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Women's  International  Friendship  League,  of 
which  Miss  Locke  is  Corresponding  Secretary.  The  pur 
pose  of  this  League,  to  acquaint  the  women  voters  of  this 
country  with  the  Japanese  point  of  view  towards  America, 
and  to  bring  about  a  closer  friendship  between  the  women 
of  the  two  nations,  is  to  be  effected  by  a  campaign  of  lectures 
to  women  throughout  the  West  and  Middle  West,  in  which 
the  most  valuable  aid  will  be  given  by  Miss  Virginia  Garner, 
the  League's  International  Chairman  for  Japan.  .  .  .  Miss 
Garner  is  in  Washington  at  present  in  connection  with  con 
ferences  upon  the  Immigration  Bill  and  appears  to-day 
before  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  in  this  connec 
tion.  Other  prominent  women  associated  with  Miss  Locke 

insisting  that  her  people  come  to  America.  All  that  she  has  con 
tended  for  was  their  RIGHT  to  come.  No  one  but  a  fool  could  pic 
ture  a  nation  willing  to  fight  for  the  privilege  of  losing  her  subjects" 
(P.  6.) 

He  flatly  contradicts  himself  on  page  13  as  follows: 
Were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  Japan  is  hopelessly,  helplessly  over 
crowded  jvith  her  rapidly  increasing  population,  she  would  not  want, 
she  would  not  be  willing,  that  any  of  her  people  should  seek  lodg 
ment  oversea"! 


150  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

and  Miss  Garner  in  the  Women's  International  Friendship 
League,  are  Miss  Emma  Goodale,  of  Waialua,  Hawaii,  and 
Miss  Elizabeth  K.  Knudsen,  Land  Expert,  Los  Angeles, 
California." 

"v 

The  American  Peace  Society ! — A  press  agency  distrib 
uting  pro- Japanese  material  in  connection  with  the  Jap 
anese  government !  A  political  bureau,  managing  a  cam 
paign  by  brilliant  women,  in  the  name  of  friendship, 
backed  by  Carnegie  power  to  capture  the  women's  votes  to 
elect  Congressmen  favourable  to  pro-Japanese  legislation ! 

The  relation  between  the  Peace  Movement  and  the 
Japanese  Contention  is  definite  and  powerful.  If  the 
Carnegie  forces  could  reverse  the  Congress  and  the  polit 
ical  parties  of  the  United  States  on  Panama  Tolls  to  pla 
cate  England,  they  can  and  will  reverse  the  whole  legisla 
tive  past  of  America  toward  Asia  to  placate  Japan — unless 
America  awakes. 

Or  perhaps  the  Carnegie  forces  themselves  may  some 
day  awake.  England's  alliance  with  Japan  is  not  a  step 
toward  the  Carnegie  goal.  That  leads  to  race  mixture, 
the  disappearance  of  Anglican  blood,  not  to  reunion  and 
strength. 

The  great  mistake  which  England  made  when  she  made 
an  alliance  with  Japan,  and  the  perpetual  evil  effects  of  it, 
are  characterised  by  one  of  England's  brightest  scholars, 
B.  L.  Putnam  Weale:1  "This  harmful  and  ill-considered 
instrument  is  largely  responsible  for  the  complex  nature 
which  the  conflict  of  colour  has  now  assumed  throughout 
the  world.  By  making  this  second  alliance,  far  more 

1  "B.  L.  Putnam  Weale  knows  the  East  better  than  any  western 
man  who  has  written  of  it  during  this  generation.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Weale  has  seen,  has  recorded,  and  is  able  to  tell  so  many  tangible 
facts  regarding  Eastern  Asia,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  astonishment 
how  one  man  can  have  learned  it  all." — New  York  Times. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 151 

binding  than  the  first,  by  completely  identifying  her  inter 
ests  with  the  interests  of  Japan  before  she  understood 
what  those  interests  might  be,  England  deliberately  sacri 
ficed  her  liberty  of  action,  not  only  in  Eastern  Asia  but 
in  every  portion  of  the  world  of  colour  where  men  are  able 
to  think  and  act.  It  was  but  natural  that  the  idea  should 
quickly  spread  that  similar  consideration  and  similar 
equality  of  treatment  would  at  once  be  given,  if  sufficient 
determination  and  sufficient  boldness  were  exhibited.  For 
the  first  time  in  her  history,  England  placed  herself  by 
formal  treaty  on  an  absolute  equality  with  an  Asiatic 
race."  1 

Nor  is  that  alliance  long  to  remain.  There  will  come 
a  day  when  this  pro-Japanese  sentiment  of  these  peace 
bodies  will  be  reversed — the  Anglican-Japanese  alliance 
will  be  shattered,  perhaps  totally  broken.  That  will  be 
the  day  when  Japan  drives  English  traders,  English  ship 
ping,  and  English  control  from  their  seats  in  the  Far 
East. 

English  shipping  already  feels  the  competition  of  her 
young  rival.  Take  the  port  of  Hong  Kong  for  instance: 
Japanese  shipping  appeared  there  for  the  first  time  in  1880 
in  the  tonnage  record  at  20,000  tons;  English  shipping 
then  had  the  greater  part  of  all  of  it,  5,000,000  tons.  But 
in  1904  English  shipping  was  6,600,000  tons;  Japan's 
900,000  tons;  in  1915  England's  had  dropped  to  5,700,- 
ooo;  Japan's  had  risen  to  2,275,000  tons. 

The  coming  of  that  day  is  already  foreshadowed  by 
Kawakami  in  a  bold,  but  subtle  article  in  which  he  says : 
"Is  it  surprising  that  Japan  should  be  restive  and  strive 
to  intrench  herself  in  China  so  firmly  that  no  Western 
power  will  be  permitted  to  become  a  dominant  factor  in 
China?  .  .  .  Great  Britain  has  a  vast  sphere  of  influ- 


lThe  Conflict  of  Color,  pages  113,  H4>  "5- 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


ence  in  China.  She  can  afford  to  let  Japan  build  a  few 
hundred  miles  of  railroad  in  the  Yangtse  Valley."  There, 
Great  Britain,  is  your  challenge  !  That  is  the  price  Japan 
sets  for  your  friendship!  If  you  hold  to  your  character 
of  the  past,  you  will  not  pay  the  price. 

Japan  has  set  the  price  of  her  friendship  to  America. 

Count  Okuma,  premier  of  Japan,  after  declaring  that 
Japanese  must  "take  firm  resolution  to  fight  (their)  way 
with  their  own  energy  and  ability,  boldly  confronting  the 
pressure  of  the  white  races,"  turns  his  attention  to  the 
California  land  problem  in  this  language: 

"Now,  as  for  the  California  question.  It  would  be  proper 
to  look  upon  this  as  a  preliminary  test  to  sound  the  capacity 
of  the  Japanese  whether  we  are  susceptible  of  still  further 
development.  Our  future  destiny  may  be  said  to  depend 
on  its  successful  solution.  It  may  probably  require  half  a 
century,  a  century,  or  even  more.  Our  moderate  attitude  is 
quite  likely  to  be  interpreted  as  weak  hearted  spiritlessness, 
while  a  firm  policy  would  only  stir  up  the  fury  of  anti-  Jap 
anese  excitement.  Really,  in  respect  to  this  question  we  have 
fallen  between  two  buffers. 

"Were  it  not  for  our  honest  desire  to  shun  anything  like 
the  possibility  of  hostilities  between  the  two  nations  it  might 
be  proper  .  .  .  for  us  to  assert  strongly  our  reasonable 
claim.  But  preferring  peace  to  inimical  controversies  we 
appeal  only  to  that  high  sense  of  human  justice  which 
inspired  the  ancestors  of  the  Americans  when  they  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Great  Republic.  Do  they  remember  that 
their  noble  hearted  ancestors  appealed  to  the  force  of  arms 
only  after  they  had  exhausted  all  other  imaginable  means 
to  bring  their  differences  with  Great  Britain  to  a  peaceful 
close?  Their  peaceful  entreaties  were  scornfully  disre 
garded  one  after  another,  and  the  oppression  became  heavier. 
They  patiently  endured  what  was  really  unendurable. 

"This  splendid  example  we  are  now  intending  to  follow. 
We  are  now  prepared  to  tax  our  patience  to  the  utmost. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  153 

"The  Japanese  public  must  become  fully  conscious  of  the 
serious  fact  that  upon  the  issue  of  the  settlement  of  the  ques 
tion  depends  the  future  welfare  and  prosperity  of  150,000 
Japanese  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the  American  continent  and 
in  Hawaii,  and  that  if  the  result  be  unsuccessful  we  Jap 
anese  may  hereafter  have  no  outlet  on  the  Pacific  side,  not 
withstanding  the  rapid  increase  of  population  at  home." 

This  is  not  a  threat  of  war.  It  is  simply  a  candid  state 
ment  of  the  Japanese  position.  If  Americans  are  not 
willing  to  concede  to  the  Japanese  the  right  to  be  assimi 
lated  with  the  white  races,  Americans  will  find  themselves 
standing  in  the  way  of  Japanese  national  necessities. 
Count  Okuma  wants  peace  with  the  United  States,  but  he 
is  clear  on  the  terms  on  which  he  will  be  able  to  keep  peace. 
Those  terms  are  no  less  than  the  removal  of  all  barriers 
to  Japanese  in  this  country,  and  consent  to  racial  amalga 
mation  with  them.1 

I  have  no  purpose  to  discount  the  motives  of  some 
Americans  who  are  lulling  us  into  overconfidence  about 
the  good  will  and  good  acts  of  other  nations  toward  us. 
The  wishes  of  these  men  are  the  fathers  of  their  thoughts. 
They  are  good  wishes,  but  their  vision  of  hope  has  blinded 
their  vision  of  fact.  These  men  are  sincere  peace  advo 
cates,  but  their  desires  have  led  them  into  the  most  serious 
conclusions  and  error.  With  this  interpretation  of  motive 
let  us  look  at  some  things  which  they  said  never  would 
happen,  and  yet  which  have  happened.  Any  vital  prin 
ciple  of  action  which  is  reversed  in  less  than  a  century  is 
too  fragile  to  build  a  national  destiny  upon. 

David  Starr  Jordan  is  a  director  of  the  World  Peace 
Foundation,  and  their  most  distinguished  advocate.  No 
one  has  had  more  prominent  place  or  been  more  positive 
in  his  addresses  and  writings  on  peace;  no  man  has  ever 

aSee  editorial  in  the  Chicago  Tribune,  December  12,  1915. 


154*  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

had  a  greater  reversal  of  the  prophecies  in  his  speeches 
and  writings  than  he. 

In  the  spring  of  1914  he  went  to  Europe  to  study  the 
economic  conditions  and  depression  which,  he  claimed, 
had  come  from  the  vast  waste  of  capital  and  energy  put 
into  the  preparations  for  war.  He  sent  back  articles  de 
scribing  the  status  of  credit,  the  rates  of  interest,  the  finan 
cial  stringencies  caused  by  the  wastes  of  war,  saying, 
"The  year  1913  was  Europe's  banner  year  of  waste. 
.  .  .  Europe  has  stood  about  all  it  can  of  military 
waste." 

And  only  seven  days  before  Austria  gave  her  ultimatum 
to  Serbia,  only  eleven  days  before  the  first  gun  was  fired, 
only  -fourteen  days  before  Germany  declared  war  on  Eng 
land,  he  confidently  said  there  would  never  be  another 
European  war,  because  of  these  economic  conditions. 
Here  is  his  verdict,  written  July  17,  1914,  and  printed 
in  Harper's  Weekly  in  August,  three  weeks  after  the 
war  had  begun  which  he  said  could  never  be,  "The  safe 
guard  against  the  armies  and  navies  Europe  has  gath 
ered  for  war  is  that  Europe  is  not  rich  enough  to  use 
them,  and  is  too  human  and  too  humane  to  want  to  use 
them." 

How  much  is  his  prophecy  worth  in  another  interna 
tional  problem  involving  American  destiny? 

Just  as  positive  and  just  as  bitterly  mistaken  as  he  are 
two  other  great  men — Andrew  Carnegie  of  America  and 
Baron  d'Estournelle  of  France. 

In  1911  the  latter,  a  permanent  member  of  The  Hague 
Tribunal,  head  of  the  World  Association  for  International 
Conciliation,  made  a  tour  of  America.  His  contribution 
to  the  Peace  Movement  is  of  inestimable  value.  In  Cali 
fornia  he  was  received  with  a  warmth  surpassing  even 
the  far-famed  hospitality  of  that  state.  He  did  not  avoid 
the  frankest  discussion  of  America's  relations  with  Japan, 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 155 

and  spoke  with  utmost  confidence  of  Japan's  future 
course.  In  Los  Angeles  March  28,  191 1,  he  said : 

"Let  me  assure  you,  and  I  know  of  this  matter,  for  it 
has  been  my  study  for  ten  years,  Japan  does  not  want 
war  with  you  or  any  other  country  in  the  world."1 

But  Japan,  on  her  own  initiative,  from  her  own  desire, 
for  her  own  advantage,  declared  a  war  upon  Germany  in 
1914,  and  has  given  China  more  than  sufficient  provoca 
tion  for  another.  Here  is  a  contradiction  between  senti 
ment  and  fact  that  no  man  can  explain :  Japan  is  still  sup 
ported  by  the  sentiment  of  the  advocates  of  Peace,  while 
she  goes  right  on  always  forcing  her  way  to  Empire  by 
the  means  of  War. 

"Let  us  suppose,"  said  Baron  d'Estournelle  in  San 
Francisco,  "with  the  most  pessimistic  alarmist,  that 
Japan,  starting  a  policy  of  imperialism,  and  megalomania, 
would  try  to  monopolize  the  Pacific  Ocean,  claiming  Asia 
for  the  Asiatics.  It  would  be  the  beginning  of  its  decad 
ence  and  the  end  of  its  power.  .  .  .  Acting  against  the 
United  States,  taking  by  surprise  or  by  force  the  Philip 
pines  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  it  would  open  at  the  same 
time  an  era  of  aggression  against  Europe."  2 

Many  of  these  things — unthinkable  except  to  the  most 
pessimistic  alarmist — Japan  has  entered  upon.  She  openly 
claims  as  her  policy  Asia  for  Asiatics;  she  confesses  her 
imperialism  in  Korea  and  Manchuria  and  Fukien;  she 
justifies  her  seizures  of  Shantung,  and  her  twenty-one 
demands  on  China ;  and  her  intention  to  exploit  China  was 
made  known  by  Baron  Shibusawa  in  The  Century,  in  Feb 
ruary,  1916. 

"Japan  must  have  a  place  in  the  sun,"  3  cries  Kawakami, 
head  of  the  Japanese  Association  of  America,  Manager 

lThe  Peace  Movement  in  America,  by  Julius  Moritzen,  page  69. 

*Ibid.,  page  72. 

*New  York  Times,  signed  article  dated  April  8,  1915. 


156  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

of  the  Pacific  Press  Bureau,  author  of  most  of  its  propa 
ganda  distributed  to  the  press,  editor  of  the  Japanese- 
American  News  of  San  Francisco,  and  an  accepted  voice 
of  Japan  in  America. 

"Japan  must  have  a  place  in  the  sun,"  he  says,  repeat 
ing  the  classic  phrase  of  imperialism  of  the  German  Em 
peror,  in  which  he  announced  to  the  world  his  own  policy 
of  imperialism.  "Japan  must"  have  a  place  in  the  sun," 
he  continues.  "Her  intercourse  with  the  enterprising 
aggressive  Occident  has  already  during  the  past  fifty  years 
infused  into  her  fresh  aspirations  and  energies.  Had 
America  and  Europe  permitted  her  to  remain  in  her  seclu 
sion,  she  would  have  been  well  satisfied  with  her  lot  in 
her  little  archipelago.  But  the  Occident  forced  Japan  to 
open  her  doors  at  the  point  of  the  gun  and  imposed  on  her 
modern  tools  of  war  and  industry.  As  a  result,  the  Jap 
anese  has  become  so  enterprising,  that  he  finds  his  country 
all  too  small  for  his  activities." 

How  clearer  could  be  declared  Japan's  policy  of  im 
perialism  which  the  good  Baron  said,  after  studying  her 
for  ten  years,  she  never  would  adopt.  And  "she  has 
opened  at  the  same  time  an  era  of  general  aggression 
against  Europe."  She  now  has  taken  the  German  posses 
sions  on  the  mainland  and  all  her  islands  in  the  Pacific, 
and  Professor  Frederic  Starr,  of  the  University  of  Chi 
cago,  declares  she  has  no  intention  to  withdraw  from 
these1 — the  Ladrone  and  the  Marshall  Islands,  half  way 
between  the  Philippines  and  Hawaii.  She  has  asked  Eng 
land  to  share  her  privileges  in  England's  "sphere  of  influ 
ence."  She  plans  to  control  Fukien,  opposite  Formosa. 
"She  also  will  take  steps  to  prevent  the  passing  of  any 
section  of  Chinese  territory  into  the  hands  of  any  Western 
power,"  plainly  says  Kawakami. 

Thus  the  noble  Baron's  knowledge  of  Japan,  of  which 

'Statement  made  April  3,  1916. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  157 

he  was  so  certain,  has  been  proved  in  error  in  every  spe 
cific  policy  which  he  said  she  could  never  assume. 

In  the  same  volume  is  expressed  the  equal  error  by  Mr. 
Carnegie.  "It  was  Andrew  Carnegie  who  once  said  that 
the  German  Empire  is  decidedly  in  favour  of  the  peace 
movement.  Mr.  Carnegie  emphasized  that  William  II. 
was  above  all  a  peace  lord,  not  a  war  lord.  He  said  what 
ever  impressions  exist  to  the  contrary  are  based  on  igno 
rance  of  the  Emperor's  true  nature.  Baron  d'Estournelle 
expressed  himself  to  the  same  effect  while  he  was  in 
America." 

These  hopeful,  but  bitterly  mistaken  estimates  of 
nations  and  of  men  are  not  five  years  old,  yet  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  Mr.  Carnegie's  British  kin  have  fallen  by 
the  sword  of  that  same  peace  lord,  while  millions  of  the 
Baron's  countrymen  have  felt  his  wounds  in  a  land 
ground  into  powder  and  bleeding  into  death.  That 
Japan's  policy  against  European  States  now  in  Asia  may 
bring  titanic  struggles,  involving  the  countries  of  Car 
negie  and  d'Estournelle,  lies  easily  in  the  realm  of  possi 
bility,  perhaps  in  a  future  not  far  away. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  APPEAL  TO  RELIGION 

PART  I 
A  TEXT  AND  ITS  INTERPRETATION 

GOD  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for 
to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth.  Acts  17.  26. 

"It  is  unchristian."  That  is  the  supreme  argument  of 
Mr.  Gulick  and  all  who  battle  against  keeping  the  Pacific 
Coast  and  the  United  States  as  a  wrhite  man's  land,  as  the 
founders  intended  it  to  be.  Loudest  of  all  of  these  are 
the  Japanese  press  agents  themselves.  In  the  general  play 
upon  all  our  sentiments  they  have  discovered  in  our  reli 
gious  sentiment  their  easiest  approach. 

There  is  no  subject  which  a  general  audience  of  Amer 
icans  is  so  afraid  to  have  discussed  in  open  forum  as  reli 
gion.  Religion  is  institutional  thinking.  It  is  antipodal 
to  individual  thinking.  Catholic  and  Protestant  and  Jew, 
Methodist  and  Mormon  and  Mohammedan,  each  offers  to 
its  devotees  a  compendium  of  the  thought  and  forms  of 
the  past  and  says,  "Take  this  and  you  can  be  one  of  us. 
Reject  it  and  you  can  not."  The  conflict  of  the  ,ages  has 
been  between  institutional  thinking  and  individual  think 
ing.  Institutionalists  are  always  fearful  of  the  individual 
who  rattles  their  dead  men's  bones.  That  cost  Christ  his 
life. 

"It  is  unchristian"  phrases  the  verdict  which  institu 
tional  thinking,  in  the  missionary  movement,  places 
against  states  and  men  who  stand  for  Japanese  exclusion. 
It  is  an  effort,  in  one  phrase,  to  throw  into  this  conflict  the 
inherent  forces  of  religion  itself,  of  the  Christian  church 

158 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 159 

in  particular  and  of  all  those  who,  though  not  religion 
ists,  still  have  a  regard  for  Christian  sentiment.  It  is  a 
resort  to  institutional  thinking  drawing  round  the  prob 
lem  of  Japanese  immigration  "the  holy  circle  of  the 
Church."  The  Japanese  know  this  and  from  Count 
Okuma  and  all  who  wrote  "Japan  to  America"  down  to 
the  voluminous  Kawakami  and  lyenaga  Press  Bureaus, 
they  make  a  soldierly  use  of  it.  They  shame  those  who 
wish  to  maintain  our  exclusion  laws  for  Asiatics,  saying 
that  such  people  exhibit  less  enlightenment  than  the 
Asiatics;  they  repeat  again  and  again  the  keenly  subtle 
challenge  to  Christianity  which  was  written  by  Professor 
Ryutaro  Nagai  of  Wasada  University,  Tokio:  "We 
appeal  to  the  white  race  to  put  aside  their  race  prejudice 
and  meet  us  on  equal  terms  in  brotherly  co-operation. 
.  .  .  If  the  white  nations  truly  love  peace  and  wish 
to  deserve  the  name  of  Christian  nation,  they  will  prac 
tice  what  they  preach  and  will  soon  restore  to  us  the  rights 
so  long  withheld." 

Those  rights,  the  Japanese  say,  are  equal  opportunity 
in  white  lands  for  all  the  races  of  the  earth.  And  with 
that  appeal  interpreted  in  terms  of  the  universal  brother 
hood  of  man  and  the  universal  fatherhood  of  God,  many 
sweet  American  spirits  are  daily  stung  to  the  quick  and 
rendered  dumb  before  their  God,  because  they  do  not  see 
in  it  merely  the  cunning  diplomacy  of  an  aggressive 
people,  unmindful  of  American  welfare  and  unmoved  by 
the  Christian  religion,  so  long  as  their  own  national  des 
tiny  is  advanced. 

This  appeal,  as  made  by  the  Japanese,  to  universal 
brotherhood  and  Christianity  is  an  hypocritical  and  false 
cry.  The  Japanese  themselves  do  not  practice  what  they 
preach  to  us.  They  do  not  give  to  white  men  equal  oppor 
tunity  with  themselves  in  their  own  land  or  in  their  prov 
inces.  They  spurn  the  thought  of  equality  and  brother- 


160  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

hood  of  the  negro.  They  limit  the  immigration  of  the 
Chinese.  They  have  taken  the  independence  and  priv 
ileges  from  the  people  of  Korea  and  have  subordinated 
the  people  to  Japan  and  Japanese.  They  limit  the  rights 
of  other  nations  in  their  spheres  of  influence  in  China  and 
are  rapidly  closing  the  open  door  in  China. 

This  ancient  trick  of  appealing  to  religion  to  disguise 
and  defend  an  evil  cause  is  so  old  that  no  one  can  tell 
how  old  it  is.  To  quote  scripture  was  so  patent  an  arti 
fice  that  Shakespeare  made  great  ridicule  of  it.  Shylock 
used  it  to  defend  his  usury  and  Shakespeare  thus  describes 
that  use  of  it: 

"The  devil  can  cite  scripture  for  his  purpose. 
An  evil  soul,  producing  holy  witness, 
Is  like  a  villain  with  a  smiling  cheek, 
A  goodly  apple  rotten  at  the  heart. 
O,  what  a  goodly  outside  falsehood  hath !" 

And  Richard  the  Third,  the  arch  fiend  of  Shakespeare, 
used  it.  He  killed  a  king,  a  brother,  a  wife  and  the  two 
sweet  princes;  yet  on  occasion  he  donned  a  monk's  array, 
and  Bible  in  hands  played  out  his  duping  fraud,  while  to 
himself  he  laughed  and  said  : 

"I  do  the  wrong,  and  first  begin  to  brawl. 
The  secret  mischiefs  that  I  set  abroad 
I  lay  unto  the  grievous  charge  of  others. 
But  then  I  sigh,  and  with  a  piece  of  Scripture 
Tell  them, — that  God  bids  us  do  good  for  evil : 
And  thus  I  clothe  my  naked  villainy 
With  old  odd  ends,  stolen  forth  from  holy  writ; 
And  seem  a  saint,  when  most  I  play  the  devil." 

The  appeal,  as  made  by  Americans  themselves,  is  more 
honestly  made,  no  doubt,  but  is  no  more  consistent  or 
consistently  made.  In  response  to  the  request  of  the  Fed- 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  161 

cral  Council  to  the  thousands  of  ministers  to  preach  on 
peace  and  to  remember  the  cause  of  Japan,  many  Amer 
ican  ministers  are  making  this  general  appeal.  I  heard 
one  of  them.  He  took  for  his  text  the  scripture  at  the 
beginning  of  this  chapter.  Indeed,  that  text  is  becoming 
the  creed  of  the  pro- Japanese  movement  and  the  extent  to 
which  its  use  is  spreading  must  be  noted. 

A  "School  Peace  League"  has  been  organised  among 
the  teachers  and  children  of  our  public  schools,  acting 
with  the  other  peace  societies.  In  the  annual  report  of 
1912  the  Secretary  of  this  League  adopted  this  text  as  the 
motto  for  the  League :  "God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth." 

The  interpretation  and  application  which  they  make  of 
this  text  for  our  young  children  in  the  schools  must  receive 
serious  criticism.  For  the  interpretation  is  contrary  to 
the  facts  of  the  origin  of  nations  as  established  by  both 
history  and  science,  and  must  be  reversed  in  the  higher 
courses  which  these  children  will  take  later  on.  And  they 
apply  this  interpretation  to  open  wide  our  gates  to  all  the 
races  of  men,  to  make  of  our  country  the  free-for-all  land 
for  all  the  world.  Thus  the  currents  of  public  opinion  at 
their  very  sources — the  public  schools — are  turned  awry 
to  undermine  the  welfare  of  the  nation. 

So  this  minister  interpreted  and  applied  it.  I  make  no 
attack  or  criticism  upon  the  ministers  of  our  land.  Tak 
ing  all  of  them  together  they  have  to-day  the  largest  task, 
the  coldest  sympathy,  the  weakest  support,  the  poorest 
pay  and  the  hardest  material  prospects  for  their  wives 
and  children  of  any  professional  class  in  the  world. 
Nor  do  I  assault  the  institution  we  call  The  Church.  I 
belong  to  it,  work  for  it,  believe  in  it;  for,  it  is  still  the 
best  institution  man  has  through  which  to  make  progress 
toward  a  life  divine.  But  the  length  to  which  sentimental- 
ism  in  the  church  can  be  carried  is  illustrated  by  the  fol- 


168  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

lowing  extracts  taken  from  a  sermon  actually  preached  in 
one  of  the  principal  churches  in  Los  Angeles  in  1915. 
"The  Germans  and  Japs  can  both  be  conquered  by  love. 
They  are  vulnerable  on  that  side.  Every  man  has  a  soft 
spot  toward  the  fellow  who  is  friendly.  A  bulwark  of 
business  and  lofty  spirit  and  forgiveness  about  a  nation 
is  better  than  an  imposing  navy.  .  .  .  More  armies 
have  been  taken  captive  by  perfumes  than  by  gases. 
Fight  skunks  with  miles.  Kill  cannon  balls  with  cotton 
bales.  It  always  takes  the  starch  out  of  a  cannon  ball  to 
give  it  a  soft  answer.  .  .  .  Every  man  ought  to  be  too 
big  to  fight  a  baby.  Japan  is  just  a  little  Tot.  Germany 
is  but  a  kid  compared  with  Uncle  Sam.  Bring  the  child 
in  and  give  him  a  cookie.  Conquer  with  Candy." 

Now  a  minister,  especially  a  young  man  of  fine  out 
going  spirit  and  idealistic  mind,  all  fortified  by  his  school 
ing  and  keened  by  the  heart-calls  in  his  profession,  can 
take  a  text  like  that — Acts  17.  26 — "God  made  of  one 
blood"  and  honestly  found  upon  it  a  profoundly  pas 
sionate  argument.  He  will  produce  the  general  type  of 
argument  preached  in  our  pulpits  for  centuries,  yet  so 
poorly  practised  by  the  pulpiteers  themselves  that  they  go 
right  on  creating  .by  their  creeds  different  church  "races" 
and  church  "nations"  until  now  there  are  more  than  ever 
before. 

The  argument  is  as  follows :  As  we  all  come  from  one 
common  source  over  yonder,  and  as  we  are  all  going  to 
one  common  end  over  yonder,  all  these  distinctions  of 
family  and  nation  and  race  are  artificial,  accidental,  un 
necessary  and  ungodly;  and  as  America  started  out  to 
be  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed,  the  suppressed,  the  de 
pressed  and  the  compressed  of  all  nations,  the  land  of  the 
free  and  the  home  of  the  brave,  if  we  are  to  lead  the 
world  into  light  and  liberty,  we  must  forget  our  founders, 
our  nation  and  our  race ;  we  must  tear  up  our  naturalisa- 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  163 

tion  code,  and  burn  our  immigration  laws;  we  must  go 
around  the  wide  borders  of  our  glorious  country  and, 
opening  all  its  doors,  in  all  directions,  we  must  cry  aloud 
to  all  races  and  conditions  of  men:  "Come  on  in,  without 
limit,  without  money,  without  price,  weak  and  lowly,  sick 
and  well,  competent  and  incompetent;  come  on  into  this 
inexhaustibly  rich  America  of  ours  and  mixing  all  to 
gether  in  'God's  Great  Melting  Pot,'  we  shall  have  a 
millennium  in  America,  right  here  and  now." 

So  far  as  I  am  able  to  understand  him,  Dr.  Edward  A. 
Steiner  would  call  this  perfectly  APPLIED  CHRISTIANITY. 
In  one  of  his  lectures  Dr.  Steiner  is  reported  as  saying  of 
those  rejected  at  our  great  gate  of  immigration,  Ellis 
Island :  "There  are  more  tragedies  enacted  every  day  on 
Ellis  Island  than  on  all  the  other  stages  of  the  world  put 
together." 

When  once  I  was  discussing  this  all-inclusive  policy  of 
immigration  with  the  charming  authoress  of  The  Prom 
ised  Land,  she  ended  all  hope  of  discussion  by  saying, 
"Are  they  not  all  human?" 

What  will  you  do  with  an  argument  like  that?  One 
thing  you  can  do  with  it  is  to  answer  it  with  the  last  part 
of  the  same  verse.  It  is  indeed  strange  that  that  part  is 
never  quoted.  I  have  in  my  scrap  book  a  clipping  from 
a  great  religious  paper,  an  editorial,  commending  Dr. 
Gulick's  New  Oriental  Policy.  It  ends  with  a  quotation 
of  the  first  half  but  fails  to  mention  the  second  half. 
Either  the  editor  is  intellectually  stupid  or  exegetically 
crooked,  for  the  whole  verse  reads,  "And  hath  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  hath  determined  the  times  before  appointed, 
and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation/' 

If  the  first  half  is  to  be  interpreted  literally,  then  the 
second  half  is  to  be  interpreted  literally.  If  the  first  half 
is  good  to  found  an  argument  upon  in  a  great  national 


164      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

problem,  then  the  second  half  is  good  to  found  an  argu 
ment  upon  in  such  a  problem.  And  treating  it  in  the  same 
manner  we  may  say :  When  the  Creator  made  the  nations 
of  men  he  expected  them  to  remain  as  distinct  as  he  made 
them  and  he  saw  that  it  would  be  necessary  first  to  deter 
mine  the  bounds  of  their  habitations;  and  after  having 
determined  these  boundaries,  here  and  there  and  there, 
all  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  he  made  the  nations  of  men 
and  put  them  into  these  bounds ;  and  he  expected  them  to 
stay  right  where  he  put  them  in  their  habitations  here  and 
there  and  there  or  he  would  not  have  made  any  bounds 
for  their  habitations  here  and  there  and  there ! 

One  of  these  arguments  is  not  more  absurd  than  the 
other.  This  text  is  taken  from  the  opening  words  of 
Paul's  speech  to  the  Athenians  in  which  he  was  revealing 
God  as  the  one  Creator  of  all  things.  "His  spirit  was 
stirred  in  him,  when  he  saw  the  city  wholly  given  to  idol 
atry."  (v.  1 6.)  Against  all  these  gods  he  set  his  one  God. 
Here  is  his  speech  up  to  the  part  we  are  discussing.  "Ye 
men  of  Athens,  I  perceive  that  in  all  things  ye  are  too 
superstitious.  For  as  I  passed  by,  and  beheld  your  devo 
tions,  I  found  an  altar  with  this  inscription,  TO  THE 
UNKNOWN  GOD.  Whom  therefore  ye  ignorantly 
worship,  him  declare  I  unto  you.  God  that  made  the 
world  and  all  things  therein,  seeing  that  he  is  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with 
hands ;  neither  is  worshipped  with  men's  hands,  as  though 
he  needed  any  thing,  seeing  he  giveth  to  all  life,  and 
breath,  and  all  things;  and  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth, 
and  hath  determined  the  times  before  appointed,  and  the 
bounds  of  their  habitation." 

When  Paul  said  that  he  was  not  speaking  as  an  ethnolo 
gist,  biologist,  a  sociologist,  or  a  scientist  of  any  kind, 
but  as  a  monotheist  against  their  polytheism.  What  Paul 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  165 

expressed  in  this  text  in  imagery  natural  to  his  mind  is 
the  essential  unity  of  human  life — just  as  one  would 
express  the  essential  unity  of  bird  life  or  tree  life  or  plant 
life. 

These  few  words  are  not  to  be  isolated  from  their 
context  and  used  as  a  warrant  and  a  command  to  bring 
all  nations  into  every  land — or  to  recross  all  races  as  if 
to  revert  to  the  old  source.  After  thousands  of  genera 
tions  of  differentiation,  to  recross  the  radical  races  of 
black,  yellow  and  white  men  because  of  the  existence  of 
one  God  and  the  essential  unity  of  human  life  were  no 
more  sensible  than  to  cross  an  apple  tree,  a  hickory  tree, 
and  a  palm  tree  because  of  the  existence  of  one  God  and 
the  essential  unity  of  tree  life. 

There  are  some  facts  upon  which  all  the  great  scholars 
of  the  world  are  agreed,  and  all  the  great  Universities 
teach  them :  Races  and  nations  are  the  results  of  historic 
development  changing  and  responsive  to  determinable 
influences;  and  the  times  of  their  existence  and  the 
bounds  of  their  habitations  are  also  the  results  of  his 
toric  developments  wrought  by  forces  vast  and  varying. 
Nor  is  this  teaching  in  slightest  disagreement  with  right 
understanding  of  the  Scriptures. 

PART  II 

CHRISTIANITY,  RELTGION,  MORALS  AND  GOVERNMENT 
OF  JAPAN 

"THE  cunning  diplomacy  of  an  aggressive  people  un 
moved  by  the  Christian  religion." 

Church  people  in  the  United  States  seem  to  have  a  very 
mistaken  notion  of  the  morals  and  religion  of  Japan, 
and  particularly  of  the  impression  which  Christiantiy,  as 
a  religion,  has  made  upon  the  Japanese  and  most  especially 
of  the  regard  they  have  for  it.  This  notion  comes  from 
missionary  enthusiasm.  Success  in  missionary  work  is 


166  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

based  largely  on  good  will  and  good  report  just  the  same 
as  in  any  other  business,  and  missionary  methods  are  de 
termined  by  that  fact  just  as  they  are  in  any  other  busi 
ness.  The  assaults  made  on  Asiatic  exclusion  and  land 
laws  by  the  furloughed  missionaries  from  Japan  make 
them  the  more  acceptable  to  Japan  when  they  go  back. 
Not  one  of  them  could  have  influence  with  the  govern 
ment  and  people  in  Japan  if  he  chose  to  stand  for  Japanese 
exclusion  from  America.  The  missionaries  in  China 
stand  for  Chinese  interests  against  Japan — the  Japanese 
missionaries  are  aggressively  for  Japan. 

A  group  of  missionaries  in  China,  in  March,  1915,  sent 
to  President  Wilson  a  great  telegram  of  six  thousand 
words,  costing  $5,000,  protesting  against  the  deception 
and  bad  faith  of  Japan,  and  asked  America  to  come  to  the 
rescue  of  China.  This  famous  telegram  ended  with  this 
sentence:  "Shall  we  go  on  forever  being  fooled  by  fair 
speeches  made  at  full  dress  banquets  in  the  Japanese 
Capital?"  These  missionaries  to  China  are  persona  non 
grata  now  in  Japan.  In  this  light  we  must  understand  the 
medical  missionary,  Dr.  Teusler,  of  Tokio,  who,  October 
14,  1915,  said  of  American  criticism  on  Japan's  spolia 
tion  of  China  that  "Bluster  and  shirt-sleeve  politics  in 
California,  Colonel  Roosevelt's  policy,  when  President, 
of  talking  too  much  about  'America  must  dominate  the 
Pacific'  have  inflamed  the  Japanese  people."  He  fully 
endorsed  Japan's  seizure  of  China;  he  claims  Japan  is 
maintaining  the  open  door ;  that  her  twenty-one  demands 
only  form  her  Monroe  Doctrine.  We  know  what  that 
endorsement  will  do  for  him  in  Japan. 

"The  Religious  Rambler"  in  The  North  American  of 
Philadelphia,  April  10,  1915,  said: 

"From  the  first  Japan  has  been  keen  to  see  the  important 
part  that  the  missionaries  may  have  in  shaping  public  opin 
ion  both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  Japanese  Government 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  167 

has  freely  recognized  and  decorated  missionary  leaders. 
She  has  invited  and  welcomed  deputations  of  Americans 
interested  in  missions  and  many  of  the  religious  papers  and 
peace  organisations  have  been  enlisted  on  the  side  of  Japan. 
It  has  been  said  that  Japan  could  afford  to  pay  the  bills  of 
the  American  missionaries  working  within  her  borders, 
because  of  the  service  that  has  been  rendered  her  in  this 
country  by  the  missionaries  and  friends  of  missionaries." 

In  all  this  the  missionaries  in  the  different  countries 
are  not  acting  basely,  but  naturally.  They  are  not  playing 
a  game,  but  living  a  law.  They  simply  have  a  sympathetic 
identification  with  the  country  and  the  people  they  work 
with  and  that  identification  may  become  so  perfect  that 
they  may  oppose  the  interests  and  upturn  the  destiny  of 
their  home  lands. 

But  what  result  has  all  this  missionary  effort  had  on 
the  religions  of  Japan  ?  Very  little.  Americans  make  the 
mistake  of  confusing  two  things — that  Japan  can  adopt 
the  industrial  arts  of  Christianity  without  accepting  Chris 
tianity  as  a  religion.  And  that  is  what  she  is  doing.  Re 
ligion  to  the  Japanese  has  no  such  relation  to  life  as  it 
has  with  us,  and  Christianity  has  not  affected  that  rela 
tion. 

The  Japanese  Year  Book  for  1915  which  is  published 
in  Japan  for  use  by  Japanese  and  indorsed  in  a  preface 
by  Count  Okuma,  the  head  of  the  Government,  makes 
some  wonderful  admissions.  Under  the  heading  "Reli 
gion"  is  this  statement : 

"Amidst  the  vast  changes  that  have  come  over  Japan  dur 
ing  this  half  century,  the  religious  world  stands  conspicuous 
for  its  comparative  stationary  aspect,  as  far  as  its  work  of 
evangelisation  is  concerned.  Just  as  in  former  days,  the 
upper  and  intellectual  classes  remain,  on  the  whole,  indiffer 
ent  towards  religious  doctrines  of  all  persuasions;  and  it  is 
only  in  the  middle  and  lower  classes  that  they  (religions)  are 
looked  up  to  for  guidance  in  this  world  and  next. 


168 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

"Shintoism  continues  to  occupy  a  unique  position,  being 
a  cult  of  Ancestor  worship  both  to  the  Imperial  Court  and 
people,  and  a  connecting  link,  as  it  were,  between  them  and 
their  common  ancestors;  for  it  should  be  noted  that  Jap 
anese  historians  of  old  school  make  it  out  that  the  Impe 
rial  Court  and  the  majority  of  its  subjects  are  descendants 
of  one  stock.  .  .  . 

"Shintoism  has  apparently  acquired  greater  importance 
since  the  war  (I9I5)."1 

"Shintoism  sums  up  the  theory  of  human  duty  in  the 
following  injunction :  'Follow  your  natural  impulses  and 
obey  the  law  of  the  State.'  "  2 

Christianity  is  now  having  its  second  trial  in  Japan. 
It  was  first  planted  there  in  1549  by  Spain.  In  the  year 
1600  there  were,  through  the  efforts  of  these  Spanish  mis 
sionaries,  a  million  Christians  in  Japan.  But  the  Em 
peror  of  Japan  issued  a  decree  in  1630  which  resulted 
in  the  elimination  of  the  new  religion  and  the  "wholesale 
slaughter  of  the  rebels.  The  cause  of  Christianity  fell  to 
the  ground.  From  that  time  until  1873,  when  the  pro 
hibition  was  revoked,  Christianity  was  merely  a  matter 
of  memory  and  even  of  terror  to  the  people  of  Japan/' 3 

That  decree  is  so  characteristic  that  it  is  of  great  in 
terest. 

"So  long  as  the  sun  shall  continue  to  warm  the  earth,  let 
no  Christian  be  so  bold  as  to  come  to  Japan;  and  let  all 
know  that  the  King  of  Spain  himself,  or  the  Christian  god, 
or  the  great  god  of  all,  if  he  dare  violate  this  command  shall 
pay  for  it  with  his  head." 

The  following  table  shows  that,  of  the  total  popula 
tion  of  Japan  proper,  estimated  at  only  50,000,000,  the 
Catholic  Churches  have  about  80,000,  or  sixteen  one- 

1  Japanese  Year  Book,  1915. 

"Clement,  Handbook  of  Japan,  page  237. 

z  Japanese  Year  Book,  page  226. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS 


169 


hundredths  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  people.  The  Protes 
tants  have  85,000  or  about  seventeen  one  hundredths  of 
one  per  cent.  Thus,  together  the  Christians  have  about 
one-third  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  people.  And  this  is  the 
total  result  up  to  date  not  only  of  all  the  missionary  effort 
of  the  United  States,  but  of  England  and  Germany  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  Christian  world. 

Mr.  Millis  says  of  the  Japanese  in  California,  where 
they  are  enveloped  in  Christian  environment,  that  only 
about  four  or  five  per  cent,  have  embraced  Christianity. 
The  remainder,  of  course,  both  in  Japan  and  California 
are  devoted  to  their  old  faiths  of  Shintoism  and  Bud 
dhism. 

STATISTICS  OF  CHRISTIAN  CHURCHES  IN  JAPAN 
JAPAN   YEAR   BOOK 


Shintoism 
Buddhists 

Catholic,  Roman 

Russo-Greek 

Churches  of  Christ 

Congregational 

Episcopal 

Baptist 

Methodist 

Independent 

Salvation  Army 


SHRINES 

OR 

CHURCHES 

MINISTERS 

127,076 
71,730 

14,352 
53,268 

189 

198 

131 

222 

233 

377 

130 

171 

212 
69 
187 

415 
125 

373 

30 

40 

33 

54 

No.  BELIEVERS 


14, 
21,018 

15,847 
16,215 

4,299 
13,356 

2,443 
2,417 


79,822 


Total,  including  others1  1,356        2,255        *  64,054 

tfT.he  others  cover  the  Mifu,  Fumi,  Gospel,  Gospel  Rojo,  Scan 
dinavian-Japan  Alliance,  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance,  Dobo, 
Fiukyu  Fukuin,  Japan  Universalist,  Friend,  Kirisuto,  Christian,  etc. 


170      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Therefore  American  churchmen  must  make  this  clear 
distinction — Christianity  as  a  term  used  loosely  to  indicate 
a  system  of  material  development  in  some  places  is  chang 
ing  (but  very  slowly)  Japan's  ways  of  doing  the  business 
of  life:  Christianity  as  a  religion  has  scarcely  made  an 
impression  on  Japan.  As  their  own  religion  has  so  re 
cently  carried  their  Empire  to  strength,  wealth  and  glory 
— and  as  they  now  see  the  Christian  nations  in  the  frat 
ricide  of  a  world  war,  there  is  no  reason  apparent  to  them 
why  they  should  change,  even  if  they  could;  or  why  they 
should  not  regard  their  religion  and  morals  infinitely 
superior  to  our  own,  as  they  do.  Japan's  appeal,  there 
fore,  for  us  to  meet  her  "in  Christianly  co-operation" 
receives  no  force,  either  from  her  own  use  of  the  prin 
ciple  in  dealing  with  other  men,  or  from  her  acceptance 
of  that  religion  by  her  own  people. 

While  Christianity  has  made  such  slow  progress  among 
the  Japanese,  their  own  cults  have  not  been  weakened. 
One  of  these  cults  about  parallels  the  time  of  the  Christian 
effort  in  Japan,  being  founded  by  one  Tademune,  who 
died  in  1850.  He  was  the  son  of  a  priest  and  claimed  he 
had  a  heavenly  vision.  His  parents  had  died  of  consump 
tion  and  he  himself  became  bed-ridden  not  only  because  of 
consumption  but  because  of  grief.  Since  grief,  he  argued, 
had  brought  him  down,  a  cheerful  optimism  should  lift 
him  up.  He  cheered  up  and  worshipped  the  grace  and 
beauty  of  heaven.  Next  he  worshipped  the  sun.  Grad 
ually  he  was  cured.  He  did  not  regard  it  as  a  miracle  but 
a  scientific  result.  He  was  fat-cheeked  and  looked  his 
cheerful  doctrine,  and  so  won  multitudes.  His  sect  now 
has  531  chapels,  400,000  members  and  3,000,000  adher 
ents.1  What  comparison  has  Christianity  made  with 
that? 

If  Christianity  has  made  little  impression  on  the  reli- 

from  East  and  West  News. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  171 

gions  of  Japan,  western  ideas  of  government  have  made 
no  more.  When  Japan  adopted  a  constitution  a  few  years 
ago — modeled  they  say  on  ours — Americans  at  once 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  Japan  had  established  a 
liberal  government.  This  is  a  mistake. 

"From  a  cursory  view  of  this  instrument  one  might 
form  the  opinion  that  Japan  had  established  a  Constitution 
quite  on  the  Western  order,  but  a  critical  examination  of 
it  will  quickly  convince  any  constitutional  lawyer  that  most 
of  the  provisions  of  the  instrument  which  make  the  favorable 
impression  are  illusory.  The  Constitution  itself  is  only  an 
Imperial  edict,  and  changed  the  existing  law  therefore  only 
in  so  far  as  the  Emperor  himself  wished  to  do  so.  We  find 
that  the  tenure  of  the  Emperor  is  primogeniture  under  the 
male  line  of  the  family,  by  agnatic  succession ;  that  his  term 
is  eternal ;  that  his  person  is  holy  and  inviolable ;  that  he  is 
head  of  the  state  and  exercises  the  sovereign  power ;  that  the 
Constitution  can  be  amended  only  upon  his  proposition ;  that 
he  has  not  only  the  usual  executive  power  of  commanding 
the  Army  and  Navy,  appointing  and  dismissing  all  the  civil 
and  military  officials,  supervising  the  execution  of  the  laws, 
granting  reprieves  and  pardons,  and  sending  and  receiving 
ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers  and  consuls,  but 
he  has  also  power  to  fix  the  war  and  peace  footing  of  army 
and  navy,  their  organisation  and  the  salaries  of  all  officials 
both  military  and  civil ;  the  power  to  declare  war,  make 
peace  and  conclude  treaties  and  agreements  with  foreign 
states ;  the  power  to  declare  the  empire  in  a  state  of  siege  and 
suspend  all  rights  of  subjects  during  any  such  period;  the 
power  to  call,  open,  adjourn  and  prorogue  the  legislature  and 
dissolve  the  lower  house  thereof ;  the  power  to  appoint  the 
presiding  officers  of  the  legislative  bodies — the  House  of 
Lords  and  the  House  of  Deputies;  the  power  virtually  to 
constitute  the  House  of  Lords;  also  the  power  to  initiate 
legislation  and  to  veto  all  projects  of  legislation  absolutely; 
the  power  not  only  to  make  the  ordinances  for  the  admin 
istration  of  the  laws,  but  to  make  ordinances  which  shall 


172 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

have  the  force  of  law  in  case  the  legislature  is  not  in  session, 
and  when  he  shall  deem  it  necessary  for  the  public  security 
and  public  welfare; — and  finally  the  power  to  control  the 
expenditures  in  the  exercise  of  his  sovereign  rights,  etc. 
The  powers  of  the  Emperor  make  the  Legislature  virtually 
a  debating  society,  despite  the  fact  that  the  members  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  are  elected  by  the  male  subjects  over 
25  years  of  age  and  paying  about  $7.00  a  year  tax. 

"The  Japanese  are  organised  under  this  Constitution  for 
the  exercise  of  strong  military  power,  for  presenting  a  united 
front  against  foreign  powers  and  for  restraining  internal 
disorder,  but  it  sacrifices  Liberty  to  Government  again  and 
makes  but  little  advance  over  the  other  Asiatic  states  in  the 
maintenance  of  both  Liberty  and  Government,  and  the 
harmonizing  of  both  in  a  maturely  developed  political  system 
of  superior  order."  l 

Americans  are  not  less  mistaken  about  what  the  religion 
and  the  morals  of  Japan  really  are.  The  Japan  that  has 
been  idealised  to  us  by  the  cherry  blossom  and  wisteria 
writers  does  not  exist.  Travellers,  correspondents,  stu 
dents,  unbiased  by  decorations  or  self-interest,  all  declare 
this.  To  American  visitors  the  Japanese  exhibit  the  inno 
cent  flower  but  hide  the  serpent  under  it. 

The  following  story  was  told  the  writer  by  a  very  dis 
tinguished  educator.  He  was  travelling  with  a  group  of 
sixteen  or  more  who  were  professors  of  education  and 
history  in  leading  American  Universities.  They  had  set 
aside  eighteen  days  for  a  study  of  Japan  at  first  hand. 
They  were  met  at  the  pier  by  distinguished  Japanese  men 
who  had  been  their  students  in  America  and  others  who 
were  officials  in  Japan.  They  were  shown  the  highest 

*Jno.  W.  Burgess,  Ph.D.,  Ju.D.,  LL.D.,  formerly  Professor  of 
Political  Science  and  Constitutional  Law — Dean  of  the  faculties  of 
Political  Science,  Philosophy  and  Pure  Science  of  Columbia  Uni 
versity;  in  his  great  work,  "The  Reconciliation  of  Government  and 
Liberty." 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  173 

respect  and  every  courtesy — with  dinners  and  receptions. 
After  a  couple  of  days  of  this  the  Americans  expressed 
their  delight  with  these  attentions,  but  said  that,  as  they 
had  come  to  Japan  for  personal  and  intimate  study  of  it, 
on  the  morning  they  should  like  to  be  left  to  themselves 
to  go  about  as  they  pleased  and  without  notice.  To  this 
the  Japanese  replied  that  it  would  be  too  great  a  dis 
courtesy  to  allow  such  distinguished  friends  to  depart 
without  giving  full  expression  of  the  regard  of  Japan, 
that  each  day  had  been  planned  for  them,  and  that  thus 
they  could  see  and  learn  far  more  than  in  any  other  way. 
"We  were  obliged  to  yield,"  he  said,  "and  when  we  left 
Japan  we  all  knew  that  we  had  seen  only  what  the  Jap 
anese  wanted  us  to  see  and  had  learned  only  what  they 
wished  us  to  learn." 

Within  three  years  the  Mikado  has  declared  to  the 
world  that  Shintoism  is  to  remain  the  religion  of  the 
Japanese  and  has  placed  limitations  upon  the  work  of 
the  teachers  of  Christianity.  How  could  he  do  otherwise? 
He  is  the  soul  and  centre  of  Shintoism.  In  Shintoism 
there  is  no  concept  to  correspond  to  our  idea  of  deity; 
deity — a  supreme  spiritual  power  in  whom  are  all  things 
— to  whom  all  life  is  accountable.  Until  you  stop  and 
get  this  clearly  in  your  mind,  you  can  never  understand 
the  Japanese  in  their  religion.  The  vast  space  which  deity 
fills  in  our  life  is  blank  in  theirs,  or  is  filled  by  other  con 
cepts.  This  fact  affects  all  their  attitudes  to  all  the  facts 
of  life — love,  marriage,  family,  worship,  government, 
truth,  chastity  and  the  life  hereafter. 

They  believe  their  ancestors  persist  in  the  hereafter  and 
become  spiritual  forces  interested  in  earthly  affairs,  but 
these  spirits  are  not  subordinate  to  a  deity,  bending  to 
his  throne,  nor  does  their  spiritual  life  or  happiness  de 
pend  upon  his  favour  or  judgment.  Their  heaven  has  no 
judge.  The  status  of  their  spiritual  continuance  hereafter 


174  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

is  a  mere  sequel  of  their  lives  here — their  ranks  there  are 
relative  to  their  ranks  and  characters  here. 

The  Emperor  thus  occupies  the  centre  of  their  devotion, 
for  his  ancestry  is  supreme.  He  is  the  direct  descendant 
of  Amaterasu  the  virgin  goddess  who  married  the  Sun; 
the  Sun  and  the  Sun-goddess  are  the  greatest  objects  of 
worship  and  reverence,  and  the  Emperor,  their  son  and 
earthly  representative,  is  the  centre  of  their  religion — a 
god  descended  from  god  ancestors.  The  new  Constitu 
tion  of  Japan,  article  III,  is  brief  and  clear.  "The  Em 
peror  is  sacred  and  inviolable."  And  article  VII  pro 
claims  that  the  Emperor  and  his  blood  shall  rule  Japan 
generation  after  generation,  ages  without  end.  Though 
it  is  called  a  constitutional  government,  Professor  Burgess 
calls  their  constitution  "a  charter  of  despotism" ;  it  is  the 
most  perfect  embodiment  of  the  idea  of  the  divine  right 
of  kings  to  rule — for  they  have  both  god  and  king  in  one 
man.  This  is  the  strongest  combination  for  control  in 
the  world. 

Likewise  to  understand  Japanese  morals  you  must 
know  the  central  idea  of  their  moral  code.  Morals  are 
but  the  rules  for  the  game  of  life.  They  develop  slowly 
about  a  central  principle.  That  central  principle  in  the 
morals  of  Christian  civilisation  is  Truth;  our  laws  and 
courts,  our  social  and  economic  life  are  based  in  truth. 
Of  the  Japanese  moral  code  the  centre,  says  the  historian, 
Philip  Van  Ness  Myers,1  is  Loyalty ;  the  finest  expression 
of  that  loyalty  is  to  their  ancestors;  it  reaches  its  perfec 
tion  in  loyalty  to  their  god-king,  the  Emperor. 

Can  you  not  see,  with  loyalty  as  their  chief  virtue,  how 
truth  may  take  and  does  take  a  very  subordinate  place? 
and  how  the  Japanese  with  perfect  righteousness  may 
transgress  the  whole  of  our  moral  law?  To  be  loyal  one 


History  of  Past  Ethics. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  175 

may  need  to  misrepresent  and  to  lie,  wherein  lying  be 
comes  a  virtue;  one  may  need  to  kill  himself  or  another, 
and  murder  is  a  virtue ;  a  wife  or  a  daughter  or  sister  may 
need  sacrifice  her  chastity  to  support  a  parent  or  husband, 
and  prostitution  is  a  virtue.  Then,  having  been  loyal  to 
both  parents  and  ancestors,  these  women  enter,  without 
social  discredit,  the  regular  life  of  the  people.  When 
unchastity  is  thus  established  as  a  virtue  by  the  basic  ideal 
of  their  moral  code,  what  can  you  expect  its  practice  to 
be  among  the  masses  of  the  people? 

In  support  of  these  statements  I  submit  some  quota 
tions  from  "History  as  Past  Ethics,"  the  fourth  and  final 
work  in  the  series  of  historical  textbooks  written  by 
Philip  Van  Ness  Myers  which  are  known  in  every  high 
school  and  college  in  America.  He  says  : 

"The  Emperor's  command  is  to  his  subjects  as  the  com 
mand  of  God  to  us  and  obedience  must  be  perfect  and  un 
questioning.  .  .  .  Patriotism  with  the  Japanese  is  in  large 
measure  a  religious  feeling.  Indeed  Patriotism  has  been 
called  the  religion  of  the  Japanese.  It  is  this  virtue  exalted 
to  a  degree  which  the  world  has  never  seen  surpassed  which 
has  contributed  more  than  any  other  quality  of  the  Japanese 
character  to  make  Japan  a  great  nation  and  to  give  her  the 
victory  over  a  powerful  foe,  in  one  of  the  most  gigantic  wars 
of  modern  times." 

Again  he  says : 

"The  code  of  honour  of  the  Japanese  Knight  (The 
Samurai)  did  not  include  any  special  duty  to  woman. 
'Neither  God  nor  the  ladies  inspired  any  enthusiasm  in  the 
Samurai's  breast.'  Its  prime  virtue  was  personal  loyalty  to 
one's  superior.  Fealty  to  one's  chief  was  so  dominant  a 
virtue  that  it  overshadowed  all  other  virtues.  In  the  defence 
or  in  the  service  of  his  lord  a  Samurai  might  commit,  with 
out  offence  to  his  sense  of  moral  right  practically  any  crime, 
such  as  blackmailing,  lying,  treachery  or  even  murder." 


176  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Also: 

"As  respects  the  position  of  woman  the  family  ethics  of 
Japan  are  the  family  ethics  of  the  East.  The  family  is  not 
strictly  monogamous  as  with  us.  The  moral  sense  of  the 
Japanese  discerns  nothing  wrong  in  polygamy  or  concubin 
age.  Five  per  cent,  of  the  men  have  concubines.  As  re 
spects  the  whole  relation  of  marriage  the  Japanese  appear 
to  be  in  about  the  same  stage  of  evolution  as  had  been 
reached  by  the  Hebrews  at  the  time  of  Abraham." 

Sir  Edwin  Arnold  who  lived  long  in  Japan  and  married 
a  Japanese  woman  said, 

"The  central  idea  in  Japanese  life  is  obedience  to  parents 
and  reverence  for  ancestors.  Should  a  Japanese  father  have 
misfortune  his  daughter  would  think  it  her  filial  duty  to  sell 
her  body.  She  would  not  be  regarded  as  fallen  or  disgraced, 
but  as  having  done  a  right  and  noble  deed,  and  might  after 
ward  be  restored  to  her  place  in  society." 

So  strongly  then  do  loyalty  and  history  and  character 
and  morals  bind  them  to  their  Emperor  and  their  land. 
How  can  a  Japanese  forsake  his  Emperor  and  be  deemed 
by  his  people  worthy  to  live?  for  he  forsakes  his  morals, 
his  religion,  his  ancestors,  his  people,  his  god  and  his  king. 
No  people  have  such  a  powerful  basis  for  patriotism,  and 
I  understand  and  honour  their  burning  devotion  to  their 
land.  Nor  are  the  qualities  so  often  ascribed  to  the  Jap 
anese — politeness,  gentleness,  industry,  thrift,  the  love  of 
nature  and  art — inconsistent  with  this  moral  code.  These 
are  not  the  cardinal  virtues,  and  they  may  be  possessed 
in  common  by  peoples  whose  essential  motives,  ideals  and 
civilisations  are  incompatible,  one  destroying  the  other. 

Again,  the  religion  of  Japan  is  pagan.  We  recently 
witnessed  the  making  of  an  emperor.  In  all  that  cere 
mony  there  was  no  worship  of  a  god  except  the  Sun  and 
the  Sun-goddess  and  the  symbols  which  represent  them. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  177 

According  to  the  ancient  pagan  customs,  (in  which  Jap 
anese  statesmen  gloried,  saying  Japan  had  gone  back  for 
them  over  a  thousand  years)  —  the  emperor  dressed  in 
ancient  robes,  carried  the  ancient  relics,  bowed  before  the 
ancient  mirror,  wherein  the  Sun-goddess  dwells,  to  tell 
her  that  he,  her  son,  was  now  the  living  God,  the  one  hun 
dred  and  sixtieth  of  her  sons  in  direct  succession,  and  the 
Emperor  of  Japan  —  and  the  ceremony  was  ended. 

So  long  as  the  masses  of  Japan  remain  as  they  are 
within  this  realm  of  government,  morals  and  religion,  if 
we  merely  superpose  ours  upon  theirs,  our  Christianity 
will  be  modified  as  well  as  their  paganism.1  The  mere 
sentimental  admiration  which  some  Americans  have  for 
Japan  has  already  compromised  their  attitude  toward 
pagan  rites,  and  I  am  well  aware  of  the  harsh  criticism 
that  will  be  launched  by  them  for  the  mere  writing  of  the 
truth  in  this  chapter.  When  this  pagan  coronation  was 
in  progress,  who  heard  any  Christian  minister  preach 
against  the  lure  of  their  pagan  rites?  Who  raised  his 
voice  or  dipped  his  pen  about  them  ?  Were  we  not  rather 
entertained  by  the  stories  of  their  sweetness,  their  sim 
plicity,  their  ancient  order,  the  tenderness  of  their  devo 
tion  to  ancestors,  and  the  richness  of  the  costumes  of  the 
ceremonial  ?  Does  this  not  indicate  that  already  there  has 
taken  place  a  mental  compromise  with  them. 

At  the  end  of  this  coronation  some  American  papers 
carried  an  article  entitled,  "The  Great  Advance  Japan  is 


thought  is  expressed  by  the  Japanese.  The  Japan  Year 
Book,  speaking  of  the  general  failure  of  the  Conference  of  Religions 
to  produce  any  practical  results,  says  : 

"There  seems,  however,  to  be  a  general  belief,  that  the  future 
religion  of  the  country  will  be  Christianity,  but  it  is  equally  prob 
able  that  Christianity  will  take  a  form  of  development  which  will 
be  peculiar  to  the  country  and  will  offer  some  noteworthy  differ 
ences  from  the  religion  as  practiced  in  general."—  The  Japan  Year 
Book,  1913-14,  p.  286. 


178  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Making  Toward  Christianity."  It  said  that  only  fifty 
years  ago  the  Mikado  would  not  receive  the  gift  of  a 
Christian  Bible,  but  that  the  new  Mikado  had  accepted,  as 
a  souvenir  of  his  coronation,  a  Christian  Bible,  presented 
to  him  by  some  ministers  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  from 
this  incident  the  conclusion  was  drawn  that  Christianity 
is  making  a  great  advance  in  Japan. 

Now  let  us  describe  that  Bible.  It  was  specially  bound 
in  white  leather,  the  leather  sacred  to  the  ancestral  gods ; 
on  the  outside  was  embossed  the  glowing  image  of  the 
sun,  the  father-god  of  the  whole  Imperial  line;  within 
were  embossed  the  entwined  flags  of  America  and  Japan; 
illumined  by  other  figures  of  the  sun  god.  What  would 
St.  Paul,  the  first  missionary,  have  said,  had  he  been  there, 
to  see  the  spiritual  religion  of  his  Christ,  presented  to  a 
pagan  Emperor,  in  a  pagan  ceremonial,  embossed  with  the 
images  of  the  pagan  gods?  To  such  mental  compromises 
have  the  pro-Japanese  Christians  come.  Yet  they  cry 
aloud  against  those  who  oppose  their  position,  "It  is  un- 
Christian." 


But  now  from  a  very  different  angle  we  must  look  at 
this  appeal  made  in  the  name  of  religion  to  admit  the  Jap 
anese  into  America.  Those  who  raise  the  Christian  cry 
do  it  because  they  believe  that  Japan  will  not  accept  Chris 
tianity,  nor  can  we  consistently  offer  it  to  her,  until  we  are 
willing  to  accept  Japanese  in  full  fraternity  into  America. 
And  they  believe  that  Christianity  is  an  immediate  solu 
tion  for  the  whole  Asiatic  problem!  That  is  fundament 
ally  wrong.  There  is  nothing  in  the  world  now,  nothing 
in  the  history  of  the  past  to  establish  that  hope.  The 
origin  and  nature  of  religions,  the  motives  and  functions 
of  religions  do  not  establish  it. 

The  conflict  between  the  United  States  and  Japan 
comes  from  economic  inequalities.  The  United  States 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  179 

has  what  Japan  wants.  The  standard  of  living  in  the 
United  States  is  eleven  times  as  high  as  it  is  in  Japan — 
that  is  a  terrible  economic  pressure — having  in  it  the 
potentiality  of  war.  The  church  applies  religion  to  level 
these  economic  heights  and  depths  and  to  prevent  war. 
But  religion  cannot  alter  the  factors  that  make  a  standard 
of  living.1  That  is  determined  by  natural  resources,  the 
ratio  of  men  to  land  and  the  status  of  development  of 
mechanical  arts.  In  the  civil  war  two  halves  of  one  Chris 
tian  land  fought  each  other,  in  this  world  war  all  the  great 
Christian  lands  but  ours  are  fighting  each  other.  And  so 
it  has  ever  been.  The  religions  of  Asia  sway  as  strongly 
and  are  loved  as  dearly  as  our  own,  and  they  sit  in  their 
mighty  seats  with  the  persistence  of  vast  ages;  if  you 
consider  the  slow  rate  at  which  the  Christian  religion  has 
advanced  in  Asia  and  the  weakness  with  which  it  has 
restrained  the  world  from  war  you  cannot  see  in  it  a  suffi 
cient  solution  of  the  American- Japanese  Problem. 

Dr.  Myers  ends  his  treatise  on  Japanese  morals  with  the 
following  estimate  of  the  probable  effect  Christianity  will 
have  upon  Japanese  morals : 

"The  moral  life  of  the  Japanese  people  is  too  virile  and 
too  essentially  sound  to  permit  us  to  think  that  the  new  influ 
ences  now  coming  in  will  produce  such  radical  changes  in 
the  ethical  feelings  and  convictions  of  the  race  as  to  result 
in  a  repetition  of  what  happened  upon  the  entrance  of  Chris 
tianity  into  the  morally  decadent  Greco-Roman  world — the 
displacement  of  the  old  ideal  of  character  by  a  new  and 
essentially  different  ideal."  2 


Standard  of  living  must  not  be  confused  with  standard  of  morals. 
The  standard  of  morals  may  be  very  high  where  there  is  a  low 
standard  of  living — and  frequently  morals  are  low  where  the  stand 
ard  of  living  is  high.  Standard  of  living  is  an  economical  term. 
Standard  of  morals  is  an  ethical  term. 

^History  as  Past  Ethics,  p.  94. 


180      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Let  us  state  the  situation  thus;  Japan  through  thou 
sands  of  years  has  evolved  her  folk-ways1  and  mores;1 
these  are  all  the  congeries  of  ideas,  customs,  habits  and 
rules  governing  individuals  and  masses  in  the  game  of 
society.  The  people  of  the  United  States  from  very  dif 
ferent  beginnings  under  very  different  conditions  have 
evolved  their  folk-ways  and  mores.  These  two  congeries 
are  radically  different  and  in  many  points  opposing  and 
antagonistic.  Conflict  between  these  groups  is  natural 
and  inevitable;  for  it  is  the  very  nature  of  social  evolution 
for  different  societal  groups  to  struggle  for  selection, 
transmission  and  survival. 

"That  such  a  struggle  between  groups  characterised  by 
different  codes  of  mores  shall  never  cease  is  a  matter  which 
is  settled  in  the  order  of  the  universe.  The  struggle  for 
existence — the  securing  of  a  food  supply — is,  in  itself,  suffi 
cient  to  assure  conflict  between  organic  beings  of  all  grades. 
There  will  always  be  conflict  where  there  are  wants  and 
insufficient  means  to  satisfy  all.  And  it  is  provided  in 
human  nature  that  wants  multiply  and  diversify  as  they  are 
about  to  be  satisfied.  And  when  the  habit  of  association  has 
been  evolved,  then  the  struggle  is  group-wise.  Driven  by 
their  interests,  groups  of  all  sizes,  from  the  race-group  down 
to  the  smallest,  are  always  in  conflict  of  some  kind  with  their 
competitors.  .  .  .  Group  conflict  has  never  ceased  and 
it  is  unthinkable  that  it  should  cease  while  there  are  wants 
towards  whose  satisfaction  men  must  strive,  but  for  whose 
universal  satisfaction  there  is  insufficiency  of  means  in  the 
world.  Thus  are  the  exponents  of  diverging  codes  of  mores 
led  into  unceasing  conflict  with  each  other.  This  struggle 
may  take  place  in  diverse  fields — military,  industrial,  polit 
ical — and  it  is  of  various  degrees  of  intensity."  2 

Now  it  is  evident  that  the  religion  of  one  group  will 


given  definite  meanings  by  Sumner,  Keller,  and  others. 
2Keller,  Societal  Evolution,  pages  56  and  62. 


FORCES  AND  METHODS  181 

not  resolve  this  group  conflict  into  peace.  For  religion 
not  only  forms  a  great  part  of  the  mores  of  each  group 
for  which  each  contends,  but  religion  is  the  most  uncom 
promising  factor  in  each;  it  is  itself  sufficient  to  drive 
one  group  into  militant  struggle  with  another,  and  many 
times  has  it  done  so. 

What  then?  Shall  we  cease  to  carry  Christianity  into 
the  Orient  ?  No,  rather  shall  we  increase  our  effort.  But 
we  must  not  propose  Christianity  as  a  supernatural  means 
to  achieve  material  ends;  not  a  religious  solution  for 
economic  problems;  not  a  spiritual  leveler  of  unequal 
standards  of  living;  not  a  justification  for  the  mixture  of 
the  races;  not  a  guarantor  of  immediate  peace  in  Asia  any 
more  than  it  has  been  such  in  Europe.  We  must  work 
from  purer  motives  and  wiser  view,  because  of  the  value 
of  Christianity  per  se: — its  value  in  the  individual  life; 
its  value  in  forming  the  mores  and  directing  the  energies 
of  societal  groups;  that  we  may  evolve  by  infinite  patience 
through  the  man  soul,  the  group  soul,  the  national  soul 
and  the  racial  soul,  that  ultimate  world  soul,  which  will 
clothe  itself  in  institutions  full  of  harmony  and  happiness. 


PART  III 
BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 

"Society  is  to  be  led  toward  the  goal  along  routes  intelli 
gently  laid  out  with  due  regard  to  human  nature  and  to  the 
obscure  tendencies  that  lurk  in  the  social  deeps." — From 
The  Foundations  of  Sociology,  by  Prof.  E.  A.  Ross,  Uni 
versity  of  Wisconsin. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
A  JAPANESE  FIVE  PER  CENT.!    WHAT? 

THE  SUBTERFUGE  OF  A  PERCENTAGE  LIMITATION 

WE  must  now  examine  the  corner-stone  of  "The  New 
Oriental  Policy." 

Mr.  Gulick,  representing  the  Federal  Council  of 
Churches  of  America,  has  recently  made  a  tour  of  the 
Pacific  Coast  pleading  for  Japanese  immigration  and 
citizenship.  He  has  published  a  pamphlet  containing 
letters  and  resolutions  by  some  prominent  men  and  organ 
isations  indorsing  his  so  called  "New  Oriental  Policy." 
These  favourable  opinions  are  based  on  Mr.  Gulick's 
representation  that  his  plan  will  diminish  rather  than 
increase  Asiatic  immigration.  I  am  quite  sure  that  those 
who  gave  them  have  not  studied  and  figured  out  the  results 
of  his  plan.  Let  us  do  so. 

The  corner-stone  of  Mr.  Gulick's  "New  Oriental 
Policy"  is  the  limitation  of  the  number  of  immigrants 
upon  a  percentage  basis  applicable  to  all  countries  alike. 
The  plan  is  to  naturalise,  taking  into  American  citizenship, 
once  and  forever,  every  alien  of  every  race  that  we  admit 
into  this  country,  and  to  limit  the  number  we  admit  from 
any  land  by  the  following  rule : 

"The  maximum  number  of  immigrants  in  a  single  year 
from  any  nation,  race,  or  group  having  a  single  'mother 
tongue'  shall  be :  Five  per  cent  of  those  from  the  same  land 
who  are  already  naturalised  American  citizens,  including 
their  American  born  children."  1 


American  Japanese  Problem,  by  Sidney  L.  Gulick,  page  285. 

185 


186  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

This  percentage  limit  is  the  great  argument  he  makes 
for  his  whole  policy,  because  he  says  it  would  decrease 
what  he  calls  the  undesirable  masses  coming  from 
Southern  Europe;  it  would  permit  more  to  come  than  do 
come  from  England,  Germany,  France  and  Scandinavia, 
and  it  would  solve  the  whole  problem  of  the  Asiatics  by 
placing  them  on  a  par  with  all  the  rest  of  the  world;  at 
the  same  time,  it  would  hold  Japanese  and  Chinese  immi 
grants  down  to  a  small  and  insignificant  number  each 
year  because  there  are  so  few  here  to  begin  with.  .  .  . 

His  table  showing  how  many  might  so  enter  from  the 
different  nations,  represents  the  very  harmless  looking 
numbers  of  738  for  Chinese  and  220  for  Japanese;  that 
is,  in  his  book,  (page  287).  But  in  a  pamphlet  he  has, 
for  some  reason,  put  these  numbers  up  to  1,107  f°r 
Chinese  and  1,220  for  Japanese. 

This  plan  has  been  received  favourably  by  many  good 
people,  even  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  because  it  appears  so 
perfectly  easy  and  so  harmless.  "Surely,"  they  say,  "so 
small  a  number  would  never  interfere  with  American 
interests  in  any  way." 

This  proposal  is  a  dangerous  deception  and  subterfuge. 
A  nation  should  not  reverse  a  principle  of  its  founders, 
which  has  stood  for  a  century  and  a  quarter,  upon  cal 
culations  of  one  year  or  two  or  ten.  We  must  look  cen 
turies  ahead  and  enter  upon  no  course  that  will  entail  upon 
future  generations  burdens  not  equally  borne  by  our 
selves.  Under  this  test,  Mr.  Gulick's  plan  breaks  down, 
for  it  is  a  plan  of  increasing  burdens  and  slow  national 
and  racial  suicide.  Let  us  see. 

There  are  now  in  round  numbers,  according  to  the 
Japanese- American  Year  Book  and  other  sources,  100,- 
ooo  Japanese  in  the  United  States  mainland;  there  are 
80,000  more  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and  some  more  in 
our  other  insular  possessions.  About  three- fourths  of  that 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      187 

100,000  are  concentrated  in  California  and  nine-tenths 
on  the  Pacific  Coast.  All  these  would  at  once  be  given 
American  citizenship  and  would  become  the  basis  of  cal 
culation  on  the  Gulick  plan.  To  give  all  Japanese  now  in 
America  the  rights  of  citizenship  is  the  one  thing  that  all 
the  Japanese  and  the  pro- Japanese  demand.  Baron  Shi- 
busawa  especially  insists  that  the  Japanese  now  in  America 
shall  have  the  same  privileges  as  the  immigrants  from 
other  lands.  Kawakami  urges  upon  naturalisation  for 
the  Japanese  now  here.  Doremus  E.  Scudder,  the 
sponsor  for  the  latest  Japanese  effort  toward  citizenship, 
the  Ozawa  case  in  Honolulu,  wrote  an  editorial  in  favor 
of  his  naturalisation  which  was  reprinted  and  distributed 
by  Kawakami  through  his  press  bureau.  Hamilton  Holt 
and  Mr.  Gulick  demand  it ;  the  contributors  to  The  Japan 
Society's  books  and  pamphlets  all  plead  for  it.  We  may 
be  sure  that  when  the  bill  comes  before  Congress,  the 
Japanese  Ambassador  will  not  be  idle.  In  fact,  to 
naturalise  those  now  here  would  be  the  only  practical  and 
logical  beginning,  for  we  could  not  conceive  of  making 
the  new  arrivals  citizens  and  keeping  the  old  residents 
aliens.  The  plan  will  begin  then  with  about  100,000 
Japanese  naturalised  on  the  mainland. 

A  five  per  cent,  increase  on  100,000  will  admit  the  first 
year  5,000  Japanese,  besides  children  under  a  certain  age; 
and  all  others  excepted  from  the  count  in  Mr.  Gulick's 
proposed  exceptions,  which  will  be  given  later.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  eighty  per  cent,  of  these  would  remain  in 
California,  and  ninety  per  cent,  on  the  Pacific  Coast — a 
number  sufficient  to  affect  at  once  the  labor  and  other 
economic  conditions  there.  The  second  year  the  basis  will 
be  105,000  with  an  increase  of  5,250.  What  will  have 
happened  at  the  end  of  the  present  century?  Surely,  our 
Japanese  friends  will  agree  that  we  should  look  ahead  at 
least  that  short  a  time. 


188  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

A  five  per  cent,  increase  added  annually  doubles  the 
original  number  every  fourteen  years  and  seventy-four 
days.  There  are  eighty-four  years  yet  in  this  century, 
so  the  original  number  would  be  doubled  six  times.  That 
would  place  in  the  United  States  in  the  year  2000,  when 
some  children  now  born  will  still  be  living,  6,400,000  Jap 
anese  exclusive  of  the  natural  increase  of  their  number. 
The  population  by  the  fourteen-year  periods,  without 
counting  the  natural  increase,  will  be  as  follows : 

1916 —   100,000  Japanese  in  the  United  States. 

1930 —  200,000 

1944 —   400,000 

1958—  800,000  "          "  " 

1972—1,600,000  "  " 

1986—3,200,000  "          "  "         " 

2000—6,400,000  "          "  " 

Thus,  without  counting  any  natural  increase  whatever, 
there  would  be  in  the  United  States  as  many  Japanese  as 
there  are  people  all  told  now  in  the  following  states :  The 
three  Pacific  states — California,  Oregon  and  Washington; 
plus  all  in  the  next  tier  of  states  east — Idaho,  Nevada 
and  Arizona;  plus  the  next  tier — Montana,  Wyoming, 
Utah,  New  Mexico,  and  one  half  of  Colorado — ten  and 
one  half  states. 

Now,  let  us  count  the  natural  increase  of  births  over 
deaths,  that  is,  the  natural  growth  of  population.  The 
Mongolian  races,  Asiatics  generally,  produce  four  gen 
erations  in  the  same  number  of  years  that  the  white  race 
produces  three.  Our  generations  are  counted  roughly 
at  thirty-five  years ;  the  Asiatics  at  twenty-six  to  twenty- 
eight  years.  In  the  hearing  before  the  Committee  of 
Immigration  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  February 
13,  1914,  Mrs.  R.  F.  Patterson,  wife  of  the  American 
Consul  General  of  Calcutta  for  ten  years,  testified  that  the 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      189 

Hindu  girls  go  through  a  form  of  marriage  at  eight,  nine, 
or  ten,  and  marry  at  the  age  of  twelve  or  fourteen  and 
frequently  are  grandmothers  at  the  age  of  twenty-five. 
Counting  twenty-eight  years  as  a  generation,  as  would  cer 
tainly  seem  fair,  there  are  three  such  generations  yet  in 
this  century. 

The  Japanese  are  the  only  great  people  in  the  last  fifty 
years  that  have  had  a  steadily  increasing  birth  rate.  Mul- 
hall,  the  great  authority  on  statistics  of  this  kind,  choosing 
for  comparison  a  period  from  1871  to  1900,  says:  "The 
birth  rate  has  almost  universally  fallen  during  1871-1900. 
The  principal  exception  is  Japan  whose  birth  rate  has 
increased  throughout  that  period." 

The  population  of  Japan  from  1872  to  1914  shows  an 
increase  of  forty  per  cent,  for  any  period  of  twenty-eight 
years.  There  are  three  such  periods  yet  in  this  century. 
It  is  a  fair  and  safe  basis  upon  which  to  calculate  their 
racial  increase,  especially  under  the  improved  condition  of 
expansion  which  they  will  find  in  America.  Let  us  see 
how  this  affects  our  table,  which  now  will  show  (a)  the 
number  admitted  on  the  five  per  cent,  basis,  (b)  the 
natural  increase,  and  (c)  the  total  for  each  generation  to 
the  end  of  the  century,  showing  at  that  time  7,110,400. 

Mainland  of  Total  Increase 

the  United  States  Admitted  by  of  40%  per      Total 

1916 — 100,000  to  begin  5%  annually  generation  population 
1944 — End  ist  Generation  400,000  40,000  440,000 

1972 — End  2nd  Generation  1,600,000  176,000         1,776,000 

2000 — End  3rd  Generation  6,400,000  710,400         7,110,400 

So  much  for  Japanese  on  the  mainland.  But  this  does 
not  consider  the  five  per  cent,  admitted  annually  based 
upon  those  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Their  present  num 
ber  being  80,000,  their  increase  in  number  by  immigration 
would  be  as  follows : 


190  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

1916 — 80,000  in  Hawaii 

1930 — End  ist  period 160,000 

1944 —    "    2nd       "     320,000 

1958—    "    3rd        "     640,000 

1972 —    "    4th        "     1,280,000 

1986—    "    5th        "     2,560,000 

2000—    "    6th        "     5,120,000 

In  like  manner  counting  their  increase  for  ist,  2nd,  and 
3rd  generations  based  on  80,000,  we  have  the  following 
table  of  natural  increase : 

Total  Increase 

In  the  Hawaiian  Islands             Admitted  by  of  40%  per      Total 

1916 — 80,000  to  begin                   5%  annually  generation  population 

1944 — End  of  ist  Generation             320,000  32,000           352,000 

1972 — End  of  2nd  Generation          1,280,000  140,800         1,420,800 

2000— End  of  3rd  Generation          5,120,000  586,320         5,688,320 


Thus,  in  the  year  2000,  the  total  number  of  Japanese 
in  United  States  and  Hawaii  will  be  12,879,720. 

Would  all  these  Japanese  based  on  Hawaii  remain  in 
Hawaii  ?  It  is  likely  that  only  a  small  part  of  them  would 
do  so.  Before  the  President's  Decree  and  the  Gentle 
man's  Agreement  of  1907,  these  islands  had  become  a 
mere  halting  place  on  the  way.  Mr.  Millis  says :  "For 
some  years,  however,  this  direct  immigration  was  greatly 
augmented  by  an  unfortunate  indirect  immigration  by 
way  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  A  large  number  of  Jap 
anese  who  had  gone  to  work  there  on  the  sugar  plantations 
came  to  the  mainland,  seeking  higher  wages  or  better 
opportunities  to  establish  their  independence  of  the  wage 
relation  than  were  offered  in  the  islands.  Still  others, 
when  the  Japanese  Government  discouraged  emigration 
to  the  continental  United  States  emigrated  to  Hawaii  as 
a  stepping  stone  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  Thus,  against 
39,531  admitted  directly  from  Japan  during  the  years 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      191 

1902  to  1907,  some  32,855  are  reported  to  have  sailed 
from  Honolulu  to  the  mainland."  1 

The  conditions  of  the  relatively  low  standard  of  living 
of  the  mixed  peoples  of  these  islands  compared  to  the 
standard  of  the  mainland  will  continue;  so  there  will  con 
tinue  the  motives  to  land  these  Japanese  immigrants  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.  Besides,  as  American  citizens,  they 
will  be  entitled  to  go  when  and  where  they  please.  The 
mainland  will  draw  them  because  of  its  greater  economic 
and  social  attractions.  Of  the  5,688,000  possible  emi 
grants  to  the  islands,  it  is  reasonable  to  say  that  not  over 
half  a  million  would  remain  on  the  islands.  Thus,  there 
would  be  a  population  of  12,000,000  or  more  Japanese  on 
the  continent  in  the  year  2000.  This  equals  the  present 
population  of  all  the  following  states :  California,  Oregon, 
Idaho,  Washington,  Nevada,  Arizona,  Montana,  Utah, 
Wyoming,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  North  Dakota,  Ne 
braska,  Kansas,  and  Oklahoma — sixteen  American  states ! 

But,  so  far,  we  have  considered  only  the  Japanese.  The 
five  per  cent,  increase  is  to  apply  to  the  Chinese,  Syrians, 
Hindus,  and  all  the  Malay  and  Mongolian  peoples.  What 
numbers  will  be  entitled  to  come  from  these  ?  The  World 
Almanac  of  1915  gives  the  Chinese  population  of  the 
United  States  as  71,531.  That  of  Hawaii  is  not  less  than 
22,000.  Besides,  there  are  in  the  United  States  "prop 
erly  entered"  nearly  7,000  Hindus.  The  Commissioner 
General  of  Immigration,  before  the  hearing  on  Hindus, 
February  13,1914,  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  there  are 
all  told  about  20,000  Hindus  who  have  secured  entrance 
to  this  country.  Besides,  there  are  Syrians,  Persians  and 
others.  The  total  of  all  these  is  much  more  than  another 
100,000  Asiatics.  By  the  year  2000,  they  will  aggregate 
on  the  five  per  cent,  basis  another  7,110,400  Asiatics, 
bringing  our  total  Asiatic  increment  up  to  about  20,000,- 

*The  Japanese  Problem  in  the  United  States. 


192      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

ooo  people.  That  equals  the  present  population  of  all  the 
states  but  one  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  It  is  twice 
as  much  as  the  total  negro  population  of  the  United  States 
at  present;  it  about  equals  what  the  population  of  the 
United  States  was  in  1850 — at  the  end  of  the  first  seventy- 
five  years  of  our  national  life.  By  maintaining  this  aver 
age  rate  of  increase,  the  Asiatic  population  of  the  United 
States  would  reach  our  present  total  population  of  100,- 
000,000  some  time  between  2035  and  2040.  And  long 
before  that  time,  the  five  per  cent,  limitation  will  be  a 
thing  dead  and  forgotten — for  Asia  herself  within  the 
door* will  have  pushed  it  as  wide  open  as  she  pleases. 

But  if  the  percentage  limit  is  ever  set  on  all  immigra 
tion  into  the  United  States,  it  is  likely  to  be  set  at  more 
than  five  per  cent.  The  Burnett  Bill,  when  in  committee, 
set  the  limit  at  ten  per  cent,  for  those  nations  whose  people 
may  come  at  all  under  existing  laws.  When  Asiatics  are 
included  on  equal  footing  with  other  nations,  as  Rev. 
Gulick  proposes,  this  ten  per  cent,  will  apply  to  them  also. 
We  must  either  reduce  the  European  limit  to  five  per  cent, 
or  apply  the  higher  limit  to  Asiatics.  Is  there  any  indica 
tion  or  hope  in  Congress  that  the  European  limit  can  be 
made  less  than  ten  per  cent?  On  the  ten  per  cent,  basis, 
the  Asiatic  population  in  the  United  States  will  double 
each  ten  years — even  if,  instead  of  being  compounded,  the 
limit  be  held  constant  through  a  census  period;  this  will 
bring  into  the  United  States  by  the  end  of  the  century 
76,800,000  Asiatics;  and  counting  their  natural  increase 
as  in  the  other  tables  for  three  generations,  we  shall  have 
80,992,000  Asiatics  in  America,  to  say  nothing  of  Fil 
ipinos,  Hawaiians  and  Africans — and  their  pigmented 
progeny. 

I  once  showed  these  figures  to  a  friend  who  had  been 
won  to  Mr.  Gulick's  five  per  cent,  plan  because  it  looked 
so  innocent  to  him.  He  could  not  surrender  to  these  facts 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      193 

at  once  and  merely  said,  "Pigs  is  pigs."  Whoever  has 
read  that  fantastic  story  will  see  the  point  this  friend  of 
the  five  per  cent,  tried  to  make — that  these  figures  also 
are  merely  fantastic. 

What  is  there  improbable  about  them?  Is  there  any 
doubt  that  the  five  per  cent,  plan  once  begun  will  be  con 
tinued  each  year  ?  To  deny  that  would  be  to  negative  the 
whole  Asiatic  question;  it  is  likely  to  be  increased  as  the 
Burnett  Bill  proposed  a  ten  per  cent,  general  increase. 
Is  there  any  doubt  that  the  full  quota  of  the  five  per  cent, 
will  come  each  year  ?  To  doubt  that  would  be  to  deny  the 
existence  of  the  economic  drive  behind  the  Japanese 
Asiatic  problem  and  under  the  whole  world  in  modern 
times. 

Let  me  illustrate  with  a  story.  One  day  I  was  in  my 
overalls  on  my  ranch  working  among  many  thousands 
of  young  citrus  trees.  In  one  part  doing  one  kind  of 
work  were  some  negroes,  in  another  part  three  Mexicans, 
and  at  my  hand  several  Japanese,  ( I  haven't  the  slightest 
race  prejudice  or  personal  feeling  against  the  individuals 
of  these  races,  and  I  engage  to  work  on  my  ranch  any  kind 
of  a  man  who  will  do  a  day's  work  in  a  day),  and  I  said 
to  the  Japanese  nearest  me,  "Boy,  why  do  all  you  Japanese 
want  to  come  into  the  United  States?"  He  glanced  at 
the  foreman  to  inquire  if  he  might  answer.  He  got  the 
signal  that  he  could  and  then  he  said,  "Me  make  much 
money  in  California  in  one  month  as  me  make  home,  in 
Japan,  in  five  years." 

That's  the  answer.  It's  the  economic  impulse — the 
greatest  force  in  the  world,  against  which  no  natural 
barrier  has  ever  stood.  It's  the  lust  for  gold,  the  strongest 
passion  in  the  human  life  of  our  time.  Until  the  economic 
standard  of  the  United  States  is  lowered  to  that  of  Japan 
and  Asia,  the  wave  of  immigration  will  come  this  way. 
The  greater  the  difference  in  the  levels  the  swifter  the 


194  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST    

flow.  The  harder  the  head  pressure,  therefore,  the  more 
powerful  must  we  build  the  resistance. 

Then  is  there  any  doubt  that  Asia  will  have  this  five 
per  cent,  to  send  each  year,  with  her  present  800,000,000  ? 
Is  there  any  doubt  that  Japanese  and  American  Transpor 
tation  Companies  will  continue  their  methods  of  securing 
and  carrying  these  passengers,  or  that  their  Asiatic  friends 
here  will  continue  to  give  their  new  immigrant  country 
men  the  chances  they  seek  ? 

But  will  there  be  any  restrictive  test  applied  to  the 
Asiatics  now  in  America  so  as  to  greatly  reduce  the  initial 
basis  of  those  who  may  become  citizens?  Mr.  Gulick 
evidently  represents  that  this  beginning  basis  will  be  very 
small. 

Two  such  tests  may  be  placed  in  the  way — one  on 
immigration  and  the  other  on  naturalisation.1  The  pres 
ent  requirement  for  the  latter  (Sections  4  and  8  Natural 
isation  Laws  and  Regulations,  Dec.  19,  1914)  is  that  the 
applicant  must  be  able  to  sign  his  own  name  to  his  peti 
tion  in  his  own  hand  writing,  and  be  able  to  speak  the 
English  language.  The  first  is  so  easily  acquired  and  the 
second  of  such  flexible  interpretation,  that  their  restric 
tive  results  are  almost  negligible  in  actual  practice.  After 
the  alien  has  been  in  America  two  years  and  five  years 
respectively  for  petition  and  final  papers  these  tests  are 
easily  met  and  the  Asiatics  will  meet  them  whenever  eco 
nomic  advantage  depends  upon  them. 

If  there  be  an  immigration  or  entrance  test  it  can  be 
only  such  as  will  be  applied  to  all  other  immigrants.  The 
only  restrictive  test  which  has  been  passed  upon  by  Con 
gress  is  a  literacy  test,  that  is,  the  ability  of  the  immigrant 

Americans  can  be  naturalised  in  Japan,  but  the  requirements  are 
such  that  in  the  years  1906-11,  the  total  number  of  all  foreigners 
including  Chinese  naturalised  by  Japan,  is  only  thirty-three.  There 
are  no  later  statistics. 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      195 

to  read.  Now,  the  literacy  test  has  failed  to  become  a 
law  three  times;  in  1897  under  President  Cleveland,  in 
1913  under  President  Taft,  in  1914  under  President  Wil 
son.  It  is  now  before  Congress.  Many  of  our  greatest 
Americans  are  opposed  to  it  on  principle. 

But,  even  this  test,  should  it  become  a  law,  is  such  that 
nearly  all  of  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  can  pass  it  and 
those  who  cannot,  could  acquire  the  ability;  for,  it  re 
stricts  those  only  "who  cannot  read  the  English  language, 

OR  SOME  OTHER  LANGUAGE  OR  DIALECT."  1 

Mr.  Gulick  has  been  representing  that  eighty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  Japanese  could  not  pass  a  reading  test,  but 
the  United  States  Census  reports  show  that  only  8.6  per 
cent,  of  them  could  not  pass  both  a  reading  and  a  writing 
test,  and  it  says  that  more  can  pass  the  reading  test  alone. 
If  we  are  to  believe  Kawakami  and  other  pro-Japanese, 
the  Asiatics  now  here  are  almost  all  of  them  able  to  read 
their  own  language;  Thomas  E.  Green  says,  "Japan  is 
a  nation  of  public  schools  and  colleges  where  every  child 
of  twelve  can  read  and  write,  where  illiteracy  is  a  thing 
belonging  only  to  the  oldest  and  rapidly  passing  genera 
tion  ;"  at  least,  they  will  be  able  to  decipher  enough  of  their 
language  (thirty  or  forty  words  are  all  the  law  requires) 
to  meet  the  test.  Thus  the  main  chance  to  limit  the  orig 
inal  number  is  so  frail  that  it  need  not  be  considered. 

Besides,  the  law  as  proposed  provides  that  any  alien 
who  may  come  in  at  all  or  any  one  who  has  been  made  a 
citizen,  can  send  back  to  his  country  and  bring  in  his 
father  or  grandfather  over  fifty-five  years  of  age,  his 
wife,  mother  or  grandmother,  or  his  unmarried  or  wid 
owed  daughter,  whether  such  relative  can  read  or  not.  Of 
course  that  provision  would  apply  to  all  such  who  are 
now  here  and*  would  give  them  citizenship.  Then,  will 


'The  Burnett  Bill, 


196  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Congress  grant  citizenship  to  an  illiterate  wife  or  daughter 
and  deny  it  to  an  illiterate  son  ? 

Furthermore,  we  do  not  pass  Ex  Post  Facto  laws  in 
this  country;  and  I  have  not  seen  any  provision  in  any 
such  proposed  law  by  which  these  literacy  tests  are  made 
applicable  to  any  one  already  in  the  country.  The  literacy 
test  is  applied  to  the  immigrant  when  he  arrives  at  the 
gate,  and,  once  in,  he  stays  with  all  resident  rights  and  is 
never  ejected  except  for  disease  or  crime.  I  cannot  con 
ceive  an  American  Congress  to  pass  a  law  which  would 
deny  citizenship  to  immigrants  who  have  once  been  en 
tered  legally  in  this  country  as  the  Asiatics  now  here  have 
been  entered,  should  they  grant  it  to  Asiatics  at  all.  The 
basis  of  calculation  therefore  will  be  about  as  we  have 
made  it. 

Finally,  will  they  all  become  naturalised  as  they  come 
hereafter  so  as  to  form  the  largest  increasing  basis  pos 
sible  for  their  five  per  cent.  ?  The  home  pressure  will 
attend  to  that.  Why,  naturalisation  will  become  a  busi 
ness,  a  bargain  and  sale,  and  an  incident  in  economic  rou 
tine;  and  American  citizenship  will  be  a  mere  sheet  of 
paper  granting  business  opportunity. 

Should  any  elements  of  this  computation  seem  exag 
gerated  by  any  chance,  and  the  probabilities  taken  at  too 
high  a  level,  the  Rev.  Gulick  carefully  provides  enough 
chances  to  increase  the  total  immigration  to  counter 
balance  all  of  these,  for  in  addition  to  the  five  per  cent,  he 
makes  the  following  provisos  to  admit : 

"1,000  from  every  country  annually  to  give  all  coun 
tries  a  start." 

Prof.  Fairchild  of  Yale  in  his  authoritative  work — 
Immigration — says :  "There  are  vast  reservoirs  of  popu 
lation  in  Asia,  to  say  nothing  of  other  continents  which 
we  have  scarcely  tapped  as  yet  and  which  may  reach  the 
point  of  immigration  with  advancing  civilisation. 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      197 

Whether  or  not  we  are  to  receive  large  contingents  from 
these  countries  in  the  future  will  depend  largely  upon  the 
attitude  of  our  Government" 

When  so  started  these  new  countries  alone  would 
bring  in  20,000  or  more  annually.  Mr.  Gulick  would 
have  all  Asiatic  natives  get  a  good  beginning,  so  he  pro 
vides  above  the  five  per  cent,  limit  to  enter.  "All  from 
any  land  who  would  have  lived  in  America  three  years." 
"All  dependent  relatives  of  those  who  have  been  in 
America  three  years."  (What  a  wide  and  easy  door  that 
is  to  quadruple  the  five  per  cent.) 

"All  who  have  had  an  education  in  their  own  land  equal 
to  the  American  High  School."  (Another  wide  door!) 

"All  government  officials,  travellers  and  students  should 
be  admitted  outside  the  schedule  limits." 

"Wives  coming  to  join  husbands  should  be  admitted 
above  the  schedule."  (That  would  at  once  increase  the 
present  initial  population  in  case  of  the  Japanese  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  by  another  60,000  and  nearly  double  the 
basis  of  5  per  cent,  thereafter.) 

"Children  under  15  years  of  age  should  not  be  counted." 

"The  five  per  cent,  should  be  applied  to  males  only  over 
1 6  if  the  restriction  seems  severe." 

"Registration  fee  should  be  required  only  of  males  over 
21  years  of  age." 

"All  alien  women  should  register  without  payment  of 
fees." 

Finally,  to  negative  the  frail  ghost  of  restriction  remain 
ing  after  all  these  exceptions,  he  says : 

"In  order  to  meet  special  cases  and  exigencies,  special 
power  should  be  given  the  Commissioner  of  Immigration 
for  exceptional  treatment." 

Are  we  not  now  justified  in  saying  that  this  innocent 
looking  5%  is  a  deception  and  a  subterfuge? 

But  why  was  the  5%  basis  chosen?     Was  it  a  mere 


198  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

guess  or  was  it  derived  from  many  considerations?  It 
could  not  have  been  derived  from  the  basis  of  the  regular 
increase  of  our  population.  Between  1850  and  1910,  the 
rates  of  increase  by  decennial  periods  were  as  follows : 

1850  to  1860 35-6  per  cent. 

1860  to  1870 22.6 

1870  to  1880 30.1 

1880  to  1890 25.5 

1890  to  1900 20.7        " 

1900  to  1910 21.0       " 

This  shows  an  average  for  the  six  decennial  periods  of 
25.9%  or  of  2.59%  per  year;  that  is  only  a  little  more 
than  half  the  increase  Mr.  Gulick  gives  Asiatics,  which 
he  regards  so  drastic  that  he  also  provides  all  manner  of 
exceptions  to  increase  the  number.  This  plan,  adding  the 
natural  annual  increase  of  the  Japanese,  which  is  1.43%, 
would  enable  them  to  increase  in  our  country  at  a  rate  of 
6.43%  or  over  two  times  as  fast  as  the  white  population. 
The  Asiatic  population  of  the  United  States  beginning 
now  on  a  basis  of  280,000  would  rapidly  gain  on  all  other 
population  of  the  United  States  and  finally  surpass  it. 
A  10%  limit  will  cut  that  time  down  to  less  than  one  half. 

In  the  meantime,  what  of  our  negro  population?  What 
attitude  shall  the  negroes  take  in  our  Japanese  policy? 
The  place  on  American  soil  which  they  occupy,  the  posi 
tion  in  America  which  they  hold  has  been  dearly  bought ; 
the  Japanese  consider  negroes  their  inferiors  and  show 
them  no  quarter ;  economic  and  racial  conflict  is  inevitable 
between  these  two  races  when  they  come  into  contact. 

The  African  population  is  rapidly  increasing.  There 
are  now  in  round  numbers  10,000,000  negroes  in  the 
United  States.  They  have  more  than  doubled  their  num 
ber  in  the  forty  years  since  1870,  the  exact  increase  being 
IO3-3%-  Continuing  thus  until  the  end  of  the  century, 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      199 

there  will  be  50,000,000  negroes  in  the  United  States, 
which  was  the  total  number  of  the  people  in  the  United 
States  in  1880.  But,  on  the  5%  increase  plan,  the  Asiatic 
population  will  equal  and  surpass  the  negro  population  in 
the  year  2040,  when  each  race  will  have  about  100,000,- 
ooo  in  our  country. 

If  these  figures  seem  too  large,  we  need  but  recall  the 
growth  of  the  United  States.  We  began  in  1800  with 
5,300,000.  At  the  end  of  80  years,  we  had  50,155,000, 
or  10  times  the  number;  at  the  end  of  100  years,  we  had 
75,994,000,  or  14  times  the  number.  The  negroes  began 
the  last  century  with  1,002,000  and  in  80  years  had 
6,580,000,  or  over  6  times  the  number,  and  at  the  end  of 
100  years,  they  had  8,834,000,  or  8J/2  times  the  number. 

In  the  year  2040,  when  our  nation  will  be  less  than 
twice  as  old  as  we  are  now,  if  we  ente.r  upon  the  5%  plan 
of  Mr.  Gulick,  we  shall  have  a  pigmented  population  of 
not  less  than  200,000,000  people,  half  of  them  African, 
the  other  half  Asiatic.  But,  if  we  grant  Asiatics  the 
rights  of  citizenship  before  we  shall  fix  this  percentage 
limit,  and  then  find  we  shall  be  obliged  to  fix  it  at  10%  or 
15%,  what  then? 

Innocent  five  per  cent.! 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  GREAT  AMERICAN  ILLUSION 

THE  MELTING  POT 

A  FEW  years  ago  an  entrancing  fiction  arose  from  the 
Utopia  of  a  novelist's  brain.  It  was  named  "The  Melting 
Pot"  and  put  upon  the  stage.  The  title  at  once  became  a 
popular  American  phrase,  for  it  aptly  expressed  and  fixed 
a  national  tradition  that  had  been  forming  in  our  country 
for  a  hundred  years.  It  represented  the  United  States 
as  a  great  crucible  in  which  all  kinds  of  men  of  all  nations 
and  all  races  were  mixing  and  transforming,  out  of  which 
was  to  rise  a  new  man,  a  superman,  towering  above  all 
others  in  body,  mind  and  power,  containing  all  the  golden 
qualities  of  all,  but  none  of  the  drosses  of  any.  That  is 
The  Great  American  Illusion. 

This  illusive  dream  many  Americans  believe  will  come 
true  and  are  ready  to  make  of  it  a  concrete  experiment. 
I  have  found  many  who  believe  that  to  receive  and  mix  all 
men  and  nations  has  always  been  the  first  principle  of 
our  government,  carefully  adopted  and  written  into  the 
Constitution,  and  having  been  so  adopted  we  must  follow 
that  course  to  the  end,  no  matter  what  the  end  may  be. 

When,  in  the  future,  historians  philosophise  over  the 
decadence  of  the  United  States,  its  division  and  the  loss 
of  its  sovereignty,  this  great  illusion  will  be  set  down  as 
the  psychological  cause.  They  will  speak  in  phrases  of 
wonder  and  ridicule  about  a  people  so  brilliant  in  material 
achievement  who  could  be  obsessed  with  a  belief  so  fan 
tastic,  so  unscientific,  and  so  contrary  to  the  experiences 

200 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      201 

of  the  peoples  of  the  past  who  had  tried  it,  and  who  had 
gone  over  the  abyss  at  the  end  of  that  road. 

Yet  the  development  of  this  illusion  has  been  the  most 
natural  thing  in  the  world.  When  this  nation  was  made 
in  1776 — from  the  thirteen  remote  centres  which  had 
spread  toward  each  other  until  they  all  touched — the 
human  stock  in  that  three  millions  was  the  most  virile 
and  carefully  selected  the  world  had  ever  seen.  The  con 
ditions  under  which  they  had  left  the  old  world,  their 
hardships  in  the  new,  had  cut  off  the  feeble  in  body,  the 
weak  in  mind  and  will,  and  this  great  natural  course  of 
eugenics  in  five  generations  had  created  from  this  survival 
of  the  fittest  a  progeny  unmatched  before  or  since. 

The  men  of  the  Thirteen  Colonial  Assemblies,  the 
Colonial  Congresses,  and  the  Constitutional  Convention 
created  new  patterns  of  government  with  new  designs  in 
human  rights,  because  they  themselves  were  the  warp 
and  woof  of  a  new  human  fabric  woven  from  the  richest 
materials  of  the  superior  nations  of  the  white  race.1 

Furthermore,  the  impulses  which  pushed  them  across 
the  seas — a  search  for  self-government  and  liberty,  and 
the  ecstasy  in  finding  them — continued  to  be  the  main  im 
pulses  behind  the  great  numbers  that  came  for  seventy-five 
years  afterward.  Invention  and  wealth  had  not  intro 
duced  the  material  age :  freedom  to  think  and  speak  and 
act  was  the  sweetest  luxury  of  life.  In  all  that  period 
the  original  stock  easily  assimilated  these  immigrants,  for 
there  were  unity  of  ideals  and  similarity  of  bloods.  This 


1  "Such,  then,  was  the  American  people  at  the  time  of  the  Revolu 
tion — a  physically  homogeneous  race,  composed  almost  wholly  of 
native-born  descendants  of  native-born  ancestors,  of  a  decidedly 
English  type,  but  with  a  distinct  character  of  its  own.  This  was  the 
great  stock  from  which  the  people  of  the  United  States  grew  and 
upon  which  all  subsequent  additions  must  be  regarded  as  extraneous 
grafts." — Fairchild,  Immigration,  p.  52. 


202  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

complete  transformation  of  the  newcomer,  which  America 
saw,  was  the  parent  of  the  illusion  that  the  very  land,  the 
atmosphere,  the  name  America,  were  themselves  the  ge 
netic  forces  so  plainly  evidenced  in  the  rebirth  of  for 
eigners  into  Americans. 

Up  to  1880  nearly  all  of  our  immigrants  had  come  from 
the  nations  of  purest  white  blood,  the  very  ones  that  had 
furnished  the  original  stock.1  After  that  the  mixed  white 
races  began  to  arrive.  How  easy  a  step  it  was  for 
America  to  believe  that  these  different  part-white  races 
would  be  fused  as  easily  as  the  others  had  been,  It  was 
the  arrival  of  that  idea  rather  than  the  arrival  of  the 
mixed  and  radical  races  that  counted,  for  it  led  Americans 
to  believe  that  this  country  could  become  the  refuge  of 
all  men,  and  that  it  could  remake  all  men;  and  the  next 
step  was  the  fallacious  idea  that  America,  the  mixture  of 
all,  would  be  the  strongest  of  all;  finally,  that  it  should 
become  the  guardian  nation  of  the  human  rights  of  all 
men  in  all  the  nations  of  the  world!  It  is  fair  to  say  that 
the  United  States  had  arrived  at  that  conclusion  thirty- 
years  before  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century.2 


best  estimates  of  the  total  immigration  into  the  United 
States  prior  to  the  initial  count  puts  the  total  number  of  arrivals 
at  not  to  exceed  250,000  in  the  entire  period  between  1776  and  1820. 
—  From  Immigration  into  the  U.  S.,  Bureau  of  Statistics,  1903. 

2This  conception  of  America's  place  in  the  world  has  taken  definite 
form  and  has  been  clearly  expressed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States  as  the  responsible  spokesman  of  the  nation  on  three  great 
recent  occasions. 

On  April  13,  1916,  in  a  Jefferson  Day  speech  he  said  :  "Are  you 
ready  to  go  in  only  where  the  interests  of  America  are  coincident 
with  the  interests  of  mankind  and  to  draw  out  the  moment  the 
interest  centres  in  America  and  is  narrowed  from  the  wide  circle 
of  humanity?" 

On  April  17,  1916,  before  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolu 
tion  —  "America  will  have  forgotten  her  traditions  whenever  upon 
any  occasion  she  fights  merely  for  herself  under  such  circum- 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      203 

While  the  United  States  was  evolving  this  series  of 
national  fetishes,  powerful  forces  had  begun  to  operate; 
for  then  the  conditions  for  a  great  immigration  were  per 
fect  for  a  great  influx  from  Europe,  just  as  they  are  now 
ideal  to  cause  a  great  influx  from  Asia.  What  are  those 
conditions?  "The  requirements  for  an  immigration 
movement  are  the  following:  two  well  developed  coun 
tries,  one  old  and  densely  populated,  the  other  new  and 
thinly  settled;  [that  is  true  still  as  between  the  United 
States  and  Asia] ;  the  two  on  friendly,  at  least  peaceable 
terms  with  each  other.  For  immigration  even  more  than 
colonisation  is  a  phenomenon  of  peace."  l  The  West 
Mississippi  empire  offered  boundless  room  for  population. 
Its  development  would  enrich  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and 
immigrants  were  desired.  The  states  of  the  Atlantic  sea 
board  began  to  relax  their  immigration  laws  so  as  to  com 
pete  for  the  incoming  thousands,  for  it  must  be  remem 
bered  that  the  first  immigration  laws  were  made  by  the 
states  and  not  by  the  nation.  Invention,  mechanical  arts 
and  sciences  developed  a  new  world  of  industry  which 
produced  wealth,  which  turned  men  to  luxury.  The 
economic  impulse  became  uppermost  in  the  world.  The 
material  age  was  in. 

Meantime,  in  the  sixty  years  between  1850  and 
1910  America  quadrupled  her  population,  adding  about 
thirty  millions  of  new  Europeans,  a  number  equal  to  the 


stances  as  will  show  she  had  forgotten  to  fight  for  all  mankind. 
And  the  only  excuse  that  America  can  ever  have  for  the  assertion 
of  her  physical  force  is  that  she  asserts  it  in  behalf  of  the  interest 
of  humanity." 

On  April  18,  1916,  before  the  joint  session  of  Congress  to  consider 
the  ultimatum  to  Germany  he  said:  "But  we  cannot  forget  that  we 
are  in  some  sort  and  by  the  forces  of  circumstances  the  responsible 
spokesman  of  the  rights  of  humanity." 

^airchild,  Immigration,  p.  22. 


304  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

whole  population  of  1860.  America  was  restocked  by 
another  breed  of  men,  who  came  with  the  selfish,  material, 
economic  impulses  of  the  time.  A  large  proportion  of 
them  were  weak  individuals  from  the  weaker  mixed 
people  of  lower-standard  countries.  These  filled  and  over 
flowed  the  melting  pot.  They  congealed  the  original  ore 
and  extinguished  the  internal  fires,  by  which  alone  the 
whole  could  be  fused.  Chemical  forces  which  inhere  in 
matter  act  spontaneously  when  in  proper  contact,  and 
reform  the  elements  of  matter  into  new  forms  and  new 
matter.  So  the  creating  fires  which  remade  our  colonists 
into  one  people  were  inherent  in  the  people  within  the 
crucible.  How  could  the  pot  be  heated  by  forces  without 
or  any  other  forces  ?  How  foolish  and  inapt  is  this  figure 
of  speech,  "The  Melting  Pot/'  Why  should  men  in  the 
name  of  science  or  history  deceive  the  world  with  so  im 
possible  a  phrase? — It  was  the  ideas,  the  motives,  the 
racial  genius  within  the  people  in  the  crucible  that  had 
made  America;  and  when  these  were  more  than  half 
alloyed  and  displaced,  by  other  ideas,  motives  and  racial 
genius  in  other  people,  the  transforming  forces  in  the  cru 
cible  were  dead. 

But  the  people  never  knew  that  this  had  happened. 
They  knew  that  they  were  becoming  a  conglomerate ;  the 
negroes  whom  they  had  imported  for  slaves  increased 
rapidly  in  number  and  scattered  over  the  country;  by 
illicit  relations  with  them  white  men  had  created  a  popu 
lation  of  millions  of  mixed  black  and  white  people;  thus 
the  phenomenon  of  mixed  breeds  became  a  familiar  one  in 
the  land  and  was  accepted  by  children  as  a  natural  and 
normal  part  of  their  environment;  from  white  crosses 
with  negroes  and  with  Indians  an  occasional  fine  indi 
vidual  was  produced  and  those  instances  were  always 
cited  by  the  disciples  of  race  mongrelcy;  thus  the  moral 
repulsion  against  racial  cohabitation  was  lost;  and  then 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      205 

racial  mixture  was  advocated  and  approved,  until  at  last 
it  has  come  to  a  time  when  those  who  adhere  to  racial 
purity  are  called  ignorant,  stupid,  silly  and  prejudiced. 

Before  America  really  knew  it,  she  had  practically  de 
cided  that  mixed  peoples  were  the  best;  if  a  little  mixing 
were  good,  it  were  easy  to  see  that  more  mixing  would 
be  better.  So  as  the  part-Mongolians  began  to  arrive 
from  Southern  and  Eastern  Europe  and  from  Western 
Asia,  they  joined  the  ardent  preachers  of  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man  in  the  universal  American  melting 
pot.  Under  the  psychology  that  every  man  preaches  his 
own  case,  they  wrote  books  and  gave  lectures  and  taught 
applied  Christianity  to  mean  that  as  all  men  are  equal 
before  God,  they  are  without  essential  differences,  and 
should  be  interbred;  they  affirmed  that  the  part-Mon 
golians  from  Southern  and  Eastern  Europe  were  enrich 
ing  the  amalgam  of  American  stocks  in  the  melting  pot, 
which  would  transform  not  only  them  but  their  full 
blooded  parent  yellow  and  brown  races  of  Asia — into  one 
supreme  American  nation.  Thus  the  United  States 
arrived  by  the  historical  road  at  the  resolve  to  mix  Asiatic 
races  in  the  melting  pot. 

But  they  arrived  at  that  resolve  very  suddenly  by  the 
religious  road.  The  great  illusion  has  long  influenced 
public  education.  It  has  been  instilled  in  all  its  phases 
into  the  children  of  the  public  schools;  it  has  been  carried 
up  into  the  colleges,  especially  the  denominational  ones 
where  missionaries  are  made,  there  to  be  reinforced  by  an 
interpretation  of  the  sciences  of  Biology  and  Sociology 
consistent  with  the  religious  idea.  These  interpretations 
of  the  last  generation  will  be  proved  erroneous;  and  they 
will  be  wholly  displaced  by  a  new  science  and  new  expe 
rience  which  will  reverse  the  conclusions  of  the  old.  That 
is  America's  hope  of  awaking  from  the  illusion,  if  we  will 


206 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

only  wait  until  the  knowledge  of  these  newly  discovered 
truths  draw  us  back  from  the  abyss. 

In  the  same  way,  the  illusion  has  affected  the  Churches 
of  Christ  and  all  their  teachings;  the  vast  influences  of 
the  Sunday  Schools,  Epworth  Leagues,  Christian  En 
deavours,  and  other  church  societies  interpreted  the  gos 
pels  in  the  concrete  terms  of  the  melting  pot.  And  the 
harvest  time  came.  It  was  in  this  manner :  The  mission 
aries  who  went  from  America  were  the  most  ablaze  with 
the  false  lights  of  the  great  American  illusion,  for  they 
said,  "Is  not  America  the  only  true  illustration  in  the 
world  of  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man?"  The  stories 
they  first  tell  abroad  are  of  their  home  land,  where  every 
one  is  free,  where  all  are  equal  and  all  are  alike.  They 
tell  their  listeners  that  their  presence  before  them  is  to 
bring  this  message  of  perfect  happiness  and  equality  to  all 
lands  and  all  peoples,  and  that  all  this  will  come  to  them 
just  as  soon  as  they  believe  in  our  God  and  our  Christ  and 
our  Holy  Spirit,  for  these  are  the  Trinity  that  have  made 
America  a  heaven  upon  earth.  And  so  they  preached  it  in 
Asia. 

Why  could  not  these  missionaries  have  foreseen  the 
inevitable  conclusion?  "Well,"  said  they  of  Asia,  "let 
us  go  also  unto  this  promised  land,  for  there  must  be  place 
for  us."  And  they  came  in  great  numbers  and  settled  to 
gether  in  the  choicest  part  of  the  land.  They  brought 
their  Asiatic  life  with  them.  They  found  indeed  that  it 
is  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  where  they  can 
increase  their  earnings  thirty  to  a  hundred  fold;  and  in 
greater  numbers  they  came,  until  the  people  received  them 
not  gladly.  Then  they  of  Asia  were  much  angered.  They 
sent  word  back  to  their  governments,  and  they  went  back 
to  their  brethren  and  told  them  that  they  were  not  wel 
come  in  America.  And  although  the  governments  and  the 
people  of  Asia  cared  little  about  the  religions  of  the  mis- 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      207 

sionaries,  because  they  considered  their  own  religions 
much  better,  yet  they  greatly  desired  the  land  and  the 
milk  and  honey  of  the  land. 

And  they  said  unto  the  missionaries,  "What  deceit  is 
this  you  have  been  practising  upon  us  ?  These  whom  you 
say  are  our  brethren  in  your  Christian  land  of  equality 
refuse  to  receive  us.  Unless  you  can  make  them  receive 
us  as  they  receive  white  men,  your  Gods  are  false,  your 
gospel  is  a  lie,  and  we  shall  cast  you  and  your  religions 
out  of  our  land." 

The  Japanese  said  this,  and  the  Japanese  missionaries 
were  greatly  puzzled  and  they  came  to  America  and  said, 
"We  can  no  longer  face  the  people;  all  our  business  as 
missionaries  is  done  unless  this  stumbling  block  be  re 
moved  from  our  way."  And  they  called  together  the  Fed 
eral  Council  of  the  Churches,  and  the  Japan  Commission 
of  the  Council,  and  the  Missionary  Boards  of  the  East, 
and  the  Japan  Society  of  New  York,  and  the  Peace  So 
cieties  of  Mr.  Carnegie,  and  the  Brotherhood  of  the 
Knights  of  the  Sacred  Treasure  which  the  Mikado  has 
formed  of  Americans;  and  all  these  conceived  a  new 
gospel  to  be  preached  by  all  the  preachers  in  all  the 
churches  and  to  be  spread  by  all  the  Societies  and  brother 
hoods.  They  called  it  "The  New  Oriental  Policy."  They 
clothed  this  gospel  in  the  false  lights  of  the  great  Amer 
ican  illusion  and  sent  it  forth  to  solve  the  problems  of  the 
missionaries.1 

For  Sidney  L.  Gulick,  the  chief  of  the  Japanese  mis- 


is  not  figurative  but  is  literally  true.  The  records  of  the 
origin  of  the  Japanese  movement  in  the  Christian  Churches  in  the 
report  of  the  Federal  Council  for  1914  state  that  the  commission 
was  appointed  at  the  request  of  the  missionaries  of  Japan  and  Mr. 
Gulick's  policy  was  recommended  and  he  was  engaged  on  the  same 
day.  The  same  fact  again  is  found  in  the  preface  of  Mr.  Millis's 
book. 


208      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

sionaries,  said,  and  his  sayings  were  printed  in  books  and 
pamphlets  and  letters  and  sent  by  hundreds  of  thousands 
throughout  the  country, — "Would  we  not  be  gainers  by 
including  Asiatic  ore  in  this  great  Melting  Pot?" 

Thus  by  two  roads  America  has  arrived  at  the  resolve 
to  include  Asiatics  in  the  crucible.  So  is  completed  the 
tradition  of  the  GREAT  AMERICAN  ILLUSION. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  DEAD  SOUL  IN  THE  POT 

NATIONALITY  AND  RACE  MIXTURE 

WHAT  is  a  nation  ?  In  common  usage  the  word  nation 
has  two  distinct  ideas.  One  refers  to  a  group  of  people, 
the  other  to  the  land  they  live  in.  A  true  nation  is  like  a 
great  family  living  in  one  home;  its  members  are  one  in 
blood,  one  in  language,  one  in  government,  equal  in  rank, 
mutual  in  interest,  dwelling  in  peace.  The  best  technical 
definition  of  nation  is :  "A  nation  is  a.q  ethnographical 
unit-Qcetrpytflg  a  geographical  unit" ;  that  is,  a  race  unit 
living  in  a  land  unit.  Nation  therefore  has  two  units,  race 
and  land.  Whatever  disturbs  these  two  units  causes 
trouble.  When  two  different  racial  units  are  bound  within 
one  land  unit,  or  when  one  land  extends  its  boundaries 
over  two  racial  units,  the  causes  of  war  are  laid  down. 
Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  of  Harvard,  sums  up  the  causes  of 
the  World  War  as  follows :  "The  military  spirit,  commer 
cial  expansion,  the  desire  for  territory,  the  self-assertion 
of  great  states,  these  are  things  that,  in  the  long  run,  may 
overcome  all  the  checks  of  parliaments  and  statesmen  and 
Hague  Conference.  But  none  of  these  could  have  brought 
about  the  fearful  conditions  of  1914.  The  strongest  and 
determining  reason  of  the  war  is  the  growth  of  race  antip 
athies.  Europe  is  a  Mosaic  of  races.  And  at  last  the 
world  has  realised  that  the  political  boundaries  of  Europe 
cut  across  more  persistent  lines  of  race,  language  and  reli 
gion,  and  thus  have  brought  about  this  conflict  between 
the  nations."  Race  mixture  has  been  not  only  a  funda 
mental  cause  of  war,  involving  as  it  does  internal  convul- 

209 


210  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

sions  and  external  complications,  but  the  crossing  of  races 
has  always  resulted  in  a  change  of  civilisation  and  lower 
ing  of  the  rank  of  higher  civilisations. 

Of  all  the  efforts  made  by  the  Japanese  themselves,  and 
by  their  champions,  the  Gulicks  and  Scudders  and  Grif 
fiths,  the  most  extraordinary  and  dangerous  one  is  the 
effort  to  establish  several  propositions  concerning  mixed 
races,  all  of  which  are  without  basis  in  fact.  One  is  that 
all  of  the  leading  civilisations  of  the  present  have  been 
produced  by  peoples  of  mixed  races;  another,  that  there 
really  are  no  peoples  of  pure  race;  another,  that  greater 
civilisations  will  be  produced  by  greater  mixtures; 
and  then  that  the  Mongolians  and  Malays  are  not  Yellow 
Races,  but  White  Races ;  and  finally  that  the  Japanese  are 
the  whitest  of  all  the  White- Yellow  Races.  Doremus  E. 
Scudder,  of  Hawaii,  in  a  preface  to  Asia  at  the  Door,  by 
Kawakami,  definitely  states  that  the  Japanese  are  the  most 
mixed  of  Oriental  races,  and  the  Americans  are  the  most 
mixed  of  Occidental  races;  that  therefore  there  should  be 
a  fellow  feeling  of  similarity  between  the  two  mixtures, 
and  that  the  greatest  results  in  race  will  be  obtained  by  a 
mixture  of  the  mixtures. 

X 

Mr.  Gulick  makes  a  most  extraordinary  effort,  in 
furtherance  of  his  general  theory  of  the  benefits  of  race 
mixture,  to  prove  that  Japanese  and  other  Asiatics  readily 
blend  with  the  white  stocks  and  are  highly  assimilable  by 
the  white  race.  The  general  arguments  he  produces  are 
a  budget  of  discarded  theories  that  grew  out  of  a  theolog 
ical  hypothesis,  which  is  now  disproved  by  science  and  all 
its  applications  are  abandoned  by  educated  men.  That 
hypothesis  was  that  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth  came  from 
one  pair  of  parents  created  by  one  divine  act.  It  is  now 
generally  conceded  that  the  various  human  races  have 
originated  under  different  conditions,  in  different  places, 
from  widely  different  Simian  ancestors,  and  that  what- 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 

ever  the  origin  was  it  has  no  bearing  on  the  affairs  of 
mffdern  nations.  Theology  also  gave  the  cue  that  a  new 
and  better  man  should  be  evolved,  and  fancy  created  the 
notion  that  the  melting  pot  is  the  ideal — the  only — process 
to  produce  him. 

Mr.  Gulick's  treatment  of  "social  assimilation"  makes 
the  fundamental  blunder  of  assuming  that  the  evolution 
ary  processes, — variation,  selection,  transmission,  adapta 
tion, — which  obtain  in  physical  life  cease  entirely  and 
do  not  continue  with  equal  determinative  power  in  psychic 
and  social  evolution.  This  theory  of  social  inheritance  is 
based  on  the  premise  that  each  psychic  is  born  without 
inherent  tendency  or  direction;  that  physical  inheritance 
carries  with  it  no  basis  for  psychic  traits.  All  of  this  is 
absolutely  disproved  by  historical  experience.  Opposed 
to  these  notions  are  the  best  psychologists  and  sociologists 
of  America  and  Europe; — Sumner  and  Keller  and  Fair- 
child  of  Yale  and  Le  Bon  of  France,  Weale  of  England 
have  exploded  these  theories.  Prof.  Keller1  says,  'The 
case  of  societal  variation  reduces  ultimately,  then,  to  the 
mental  reaction  of  individuals. — It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  they  (social  phenomena)  probably  go  back  to  phys 
ical  change  in  the  individual  brain  and  so  root  in  organic 
processes  and  in  the  resultant  'race-character'  or  tempera 
ment!' 

The  arguments  of  Mr.  Gulick,  therefore,  are  the  hypoth 
eses  of  an  amicable  gentleman  of  the  Old  School  in  a  great 
effort  to  harmonize  the  theology  to  which  he  must  adhere 
with  a  fragmentary  knowledge  of  some  truths  of  modern 
science  that  he  cannot  ignore,  to  the  especial  end  of  get 
ting  the  Japanese  into  the  United  States  and  into  social 
relations  with  the  white  race. 


'See  Societal  Evolution,  by  Albert  Galleway  Keller,  Prof,  of  the 
Science  of  Society  in  Yale  University ;  Macmillan  Co.,  1915. 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


The  particular  instance  which  Mr.  Gulick  cites  to  sus 
tain  these  general  arguments  (and  it  is  a  fair  sample  of 
what  is  cited  by  all  who  stand  for  race-mixtures)  for  the 
assimilation  and  cross  breeding  of  Asiatics  and  Euro 
peans  proves  nothing.  He  tells  of  a  half  white  and  half 
Asiatic  child  whom  his  parents,  then  missionaries  in  the 
Marshall  Islands,  adopted  in  infancy,  and  whom  he  re 
garded  as  his  sister  through  all  the  years  of  childhood. 
He  avers  that  her  mental  habits  and  moral  character  were 
of  the  highest  type  of  the  white  child.  From  such  in 
stances  as  this  he  makes  the  sweeping  general  conclusion 
that  the  United  States  can  adopt,  rear  and  assimilate  the 
Asiatic  peoples. 

The  illustration  entirely  fails  because  the  conditions  are 
not  parallel,  indeed  they  are  and  always  will  be  wholly 
absent.  If  the  white  families  of  the  United  States  could 
and  would  adopt  the  newly-born  babes  of  Asiatic  parents, 
and  isolate  them,  each  one,  from  the  Oriental  environment 
and  ensconce  them  within  the  soul  of  our  social  inherit 
ance,  it  might  be  possible  to  develop  from  many  such 
Asiatic  infants  adults  evidencing  a  similarity,  in  grosser 
aspects,  to  the  white  race.  But  these  conditions  do  not 
exist,  nor  will  they  ever  exist.  The  Japanese  children  in 
the  United  States  are  raised  by  Japanese  parents  whom 
Mr.  Kawakami,  in  a  recent  pronouncement  which  entirely 
contradicts  former  declarations  as  well  as  his  own  prac 
tice,  says  are  as  proud  of  their  race  and  their  social  in 
heritance  as  the  Americans  are  of  theirs.  These  parents 
give  to  their  children  the  Oriental  character  and  social 
inheritance.  The  more  numerous  these  families  become, 
the  more  they  segregate  themselves  in  larger  commu 
nities;  and  the  more  then  their  Oriental  civilisation  be 
comes  encysted  in  white  lands;  and  the  more  fully  then 
will  be  preserved  their  Oriental  nature  and  their  character. 

But  there  are  other  aspects  to  be  noted  in  this  special 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 

instance  of  Mr.  Gulick's  foster  sister.  The  child  died  in 
early  life  and  there  was  no  chance  to  finish  the  experiment 
either  in  herself  or  in  her  progeny.  Mr.  Gulick,  himself, 
also  a  child,  was  the  only  observer,  and  the  accuracy  of  his 
observations  is  discounted  by  his  own  admission  that  he 
thought  her  so  like  himself  that  he  never  knew  until  she 
died  that  she  was  not  his  sister.  Is  it  likely  that  any  one 
who  could  not  detect  the  essential  physical  differences 
between  a  white  child  and  a  half-Mongolian  child  could 
detect  the  more  subtle,  yet  real  differences,  that  may  have 
existed  (and  undoubtedly  did  exist)  in  the  mental  and 
moral  constitutions  of  the  two? 

We  cannot  take  the  Asiatic  immigrants  as  babes  and 
adopt  them  into  our  families,  one  or  two  to  a  family. 
There  are  not  one- fourth  enough  families  to  go  round. 
The  Japanese  will  not  give  up  their  babes,  nor  can  the 
adults  become  babes  themselves.  How  absurd  this  illustra 
tion  becomes !  The  facts  are  the  Asiatics  come  here  by 
thousands  with  their  racial  characteristics  set  forever. 
They  raise  their  own  babes  in  their  own  way,  imparting 
to  them  the  soul  of  their  race.  Even  in  cases  of  inter 
marriage,  in  every  instance  that  has  come  under  my  obser 
vation,  the  Japanese  himself  is  the  dominant  and  control 
ling  force  in  the  family,  because  his  whole  civilisation  pro 
claims  that  he  must  be  such.  Thus  every  feature  of  Mr. 
Gulick's  case  fades  away,  and  his  conclusion,  based  upon 
it,  is  more  than  worthless.  It  is  mischievous  because  it 
leads  to  error  that  can  never  be  corrected. 

No  intelligent  observer  or  traveller  will  deny  that  from 
the  crossing  of  races  there  is  produced  occasionally  a  fine 
individual,  but  that  one  individual  produced  under  the 
finest  conditions  cannot  be  taken  as  a  type  of  what  is  pro 
duced  generally  by  such  race  crosses.  When  they  cite  the 
fact  that  a  Burbank,  in  the  crossing  of  plants,  has  pro 
duced  marvellous  fruits  and  marvellous  plants  and  "aston- 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


ishing  variants,"  they  fail  to  recognise  the  largest  fact 
in  that  process  of  production ;  for  Mr.  Burbank  says  that 
to  produce  one  plant  of  worthy  type  from  cross-breeding, 
he  has  often  been  obliged  to  destroy  one  hundred  thousand 
other  plants  that  are  utter  failures,  because  they  were 
worse  in  quality  than  the  stocks  which  he  attempted  to 
improve.  This  is  a  fatal  condition  in  race  mixture,  for 
in  the  case  of  human  beings  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  de 
stroy  the  one  hundred  thousand  abnormal,  degenerate, 
and  wretched  beings  that  result  from  race  crosses,  but  each 
must  be  permitted  to  live  and  to  reproduce  his  stock  until 
its  own  degeneracy  obliterates  it  from  the  earth. 

The  limits  of  this  book  will  not  permit  a  refutation  of 
all  the  material  used  by  Mr.  Gulick  and  Kawakami,  as  if 
in  scientific  proof  to  establish  their  positions  upon  race 
mixtures. 

After  one  has  read  their  books  and  pamphlets  he  is 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  they  have  but  one  practical 
end — to  secure  for  the  Japanese  the  rights  of  entrance, 
citizenship,  intermarriage.  To  achieve  that  end  they  turn 
architects  and  lay  down  a  broad  chart  of  foundation 
theories,  diagram  the  floors  into  apartments  for  all  the 
races,  design  the  bedchambers  with  the  morals  of  Oriental 
men,  draw  beautiful  facades  of  conglomerate  civilisations, 
and  cover  it  all  with  the  canopy  of  religious  appeals — in 
order  to  leave  the  main  entrance  open  to  the  Japanese. 

The  attempt  that  is  most  absurd  and  transparent,  how 
ever,  is  the  one  to  show  that  the  Japanese  are  entitled  to 
naturalisation  in  our  country  on  the  ground  that  they  are 
of  the  white  race.  If  there  be  any  Aryan  blood  in  the 
Japanese  at  all,  it  came  from  a  wave  of  Aryan  migration 
which  swept  eastward  out  of  western  Asia  over  two  thou 
sand  years  ago,  and  lost  its  force  before  it  reached  the 
shores  of  Japan. 

Furthermore,  a  study  of  the  present  features  and  phys- 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      215 

ical  conformation  of  the  Mongolians  and  Malays,  even 
though  Aryan  waves  may  have  swept  them  in  the  past, 
demonstrates  the  scientific  fact  that  pigmented  races  are 
dominant  stocks,  and  that  white  races  are  recessive  stocks 
and  lose  their  identity  in  cross-breeding  with  pigmented 
races.  Mr.  B.  L.  Putnam  Weale  expresses  this  fact  by 
stating  that  although  the  men  of  the  Plateau  of  Iran, 
going  eastward,  were  able,  in  some  places,  to  vanquish  the 
men  they  found  there,  they  themselves  were  at  once  van 
quished  by  the  women  of  those  lands,  with  whom  they 
cohabited  and  who  bore  unto  them  children  with  all  of  the 
racial  characteristics  of  their  former  Mongolian  husbands. 
Thus  the  Aryan  waves  of  migration  Japan  ward  were 
swallowed  up  and  lost  hundreds  of  years  ago,  under  the 
operation  of  the  dominant  forces  which  inhere  in  pig 
mented  races  as  revealed  by  the  Mendelian  laws  of  hered 
ity.  The  subsequent  generations  have  obliterated  the 
traces  of  the  racial  quality  and  all  the  civilisation  of  these 
Aryan  invaders. 

The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  gives  to  the  study 
Japan  most  elaborate  space.  The  article  is  written  by  Col. 
Brinkley,  whose  history  of  Japan  is  taken  as  standard,  as 
well  as  by  Japanese  who  are  Japan's  authorities.  This 
treatise  classes  the  Japanese  as  Mongolian,  decidedly  and 
without  question,  and  says  that  their  physical  character 
istics  and  racial  attributes  so  nearly  resemble  those  of  the 
Chinese  and  Koreans  that  without  the  aid  of  dress  and 
coiffure  it  is  impossible  for  the  unpractised  eye  to  dis 
tinguish  them.  If  the  Japanese  are  not  Mongolian  and 
are  white,  then  there  is  no  Mongolian  race  at  all  and  they 
are  all  white.  If  all  these  people  must  be  admitted  into 
the  United  States  and  naturalised  on  the  ground  that 
they  are  white  because  our  Naturalisation  Law  makes  all 
white  peoples  eligible,  then  we  must  have  a  new  Natural 
isation  Law,  which  corresponds  to  that  of  Australia  and 


216  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

New  Zealand,  which  prohibits  residence  and  citizenship 
to  all  the  peoples  born  of  the  human  stocks  native  in  Asia 
and  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  In  fact  there  is  not  the 
slightest  doubt  that  when  the  word  "white"  was  placed 
in  the  Naturalisation  Law,  the  makers  of  the  law  intended 
it  to  mean  Europeans.  It  did  not  mean  even  Caucasian. 
This  view  has  been  held  by  the  most  scholarly  judges  of 
the  Courts  of  the  United  States.  The  forefathers  made 
a  clear-cut  effort  to  make  the  United  States  a  white  man's 
land. 

Again,  the  advocates  of  the  mixture  of  Asiatic  races 
and  European  races  are  guilty  of  the  error  of  utterly  con 
fusing  the  words  "nation"  and  "race."  The  people  of 
the  United  States,  while  they  are  a  mixture  of  nations,  are 
not  a  mixture  of  races,  except  where  immigration  or  illicit 
cohabitation  has  brought  a  mixed  breed.  All  of  those 
who  founded  the  United  States  belonged  to  the  white  race. 
In  fact,  until  1850,  with  the  exception  of  the  negroes 
imported  for  slaves,  the  United  States  did  not  receive 
immigrants  except  from  the  countries  whose  people  were 
of  the  purest  white  stock  existent  in  the  world.  The 
American  population  belongs  in  the  main  to  the  purest 
types  of  one  race;  only  since  we  have  been  receiving 
immigrants  from  southern  and  eastern  Europe  and  Asia 
have  we  been  mixing  this  white  stock  with  the  part-white 
stock.  But  even  those  part-white  types  have  been  per 
manent  for  not  less  than  500  years  up  to  3,000  years. 
But  to  marry  descendants  of  the  Revolutionary  and  of 
the  Civil  War  stocks  to  the  descendants  of  the  Ainus  of 
Japan,  or  any  other  inhabitants  of  Japan  is  a  race  cross 
as  radical  and  destroying  as  it  is  possible  to  make,  and  is 
paralleled  only  when  the  pure  white  type  marries  the  pure 
African  type. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  protagonists  of  this  real 
racial  mixture  is  the  effort  they  make  to  use  the  state- 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 

ments  of  American  scholars  to  enforce  their  contentions. 
This  is  especially  true  of  the  manner  in  which  they  use  the 
statements  of  President  Charles  W.  Eliot,  of  Harvard 
University.  In  1912  the  Carnegie  Endowment,  of  Wash 
ington,  sent  Mr.  Eliot  to  the  Orient  to  study  the  question 
of  the  mixture  of  races  and  its  bearing  upon  the  question 
of  the  peace  of  the  world.  He  spent  seven  months  in 
Asia  and  his  general  statement  upon  the  mixture  of 
European  stocks  and  Asiatic  stocks,  printed  in  his  report, 
has  been  one  of  the  most  troublesome  things  the  race 
mixture  propagandists  have  had  to  handle.  In  the  en 
deavour  to  counteract  his  influence  on  the  subject  they 
have  even  made  it  appear  that  Dr.  Eliot  favours  the  mix 
ture  of  Mongolians  and  Whites.  The  Japanese  say  that 
while  his  general  statements  may  apply  to  other  Mongo 
lians,  they  are  entirely  wrong  when  applied  to  the  Jap 
anese,  because  they  say  Dr.  Eliot  had  not  given  the  Jap 
anese  sufficient  study  and  because  they  indeed  are  not 
Mongolian  anyhow.  This  transparent  and  easily  proved 
failure  of  the  Japanese  press  agents  to  state  facts  under 
mines  the  confidence  of  students  in  everything  they  write 
pertaining  to  their  campaign. 

I  wish,  therefore,  to  submit  some  of  Dr.  Eliot's  state 
ments  : 

.  First.  "The  experience  of  the  East  teaches  that  the 
intermarriage  of  races  which  are  distinctly  unlike  is  un 
desirable,  because  the  progeny  from  such  mixtures  is,  as  a 
rule,  inferior  to  each  of  the  parent  stocks,  both  physically 
and  morally,  a  fact  which  has  been  demonstrated  on  a 
large  scale." 

Second.  "The  Orient  teaches  the  world  that  the  pure 
race  is  the  best  and  that  crosses  between  unlike  races  sel 
dom  turn  out  well.  The  cross  between  any  Oriental  stock 
and  any  European  stock  is  regarded  as  unsuccessful 
throughout  the  Orient,  the  Eurasians  being  approved  by 


218  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

neither  of  the  two  races  from  which  they  sprung.  Japan 
illustrates  the  value  of  a  race  kept  pure.'* 

Third.  "The  notion  that  strong  races  have  been  pro 
duced  or  are  to  be  produced  by  a  blend  or  amalgam  of 
many  different  races  gets  no  support  from  Oriental  expe 
rience.  Races  which  are  really  kindred  may  safely  inter 
marry;  but  races  conspicuously  distinct  cannot." 

Fourth.  "All  the  experiments  which  have  been  made 
without  scientific  intention  on  the  crossing  of  human 
varieties — as  for  instance  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  where 
the  part-Hawaiian  population  presents  the  most  extraor 
dinary  mixture  of  human  stocks  in  the  world — tend  to 
confirm  the  principle  of  race  purity." 

In  the  next  place,  then,  we  may  eliminate  from  the 
Japanese-American  problem  the  whole  discussion  of  the 
equality  or  inequality  of  the  two  races.  Every  Japanese 
who  has  said  anything  upon  the  subject  of  their  entrance 
into  America  exclaims  that  they  do  not  insist  so  much 
upon  immigration  as  they  insist  upon  being  considered 
the  equal  of  the  American  people.  Kawakami  says  that 
America  must  take  some  action  to  enable  Japan  "to  save 
her  face"  as  the  social  climber  of  modern  times.  To  save 
Japan's  face  he  would  have  us  proclaim  that  the  Japanese 
are  our  equals  and  we  must  establish  this  decree  in  a 
concrete  way  by  admitting  them  into  our  country,  giving 
them  social  equality  under  the  law.  The  leaders  of 
American  thought  and  American  life  might  be  perfectly 
willing  to  acclaim  the  Japanese  as  racial  equals,  but  we 
can  never  do  that  in  the  way  they  have  set  down.  The 
method  they  have  laid  down  is  the  keenest  Oriental  di 
plomacy  and  it  must  be  met  with  a  firmness  of  diplomacy 
that  will  prove  the  people  of  the  United  States  at  least  the 
equal  of  the  Japanese. 

But,  to  enforce  what  Dr.  Eliot  has  said,  I  wish  to  add 
the  conclusions  of  several  other  great  men  upon  these 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 

premises.     "Barely  a  century  and  one-half  ago,"  says 
Gustav  Le  Bon,1 

"certain  philosophers  who  were  very  ignorant  of  the  prim 
itive  history  of  man,  of  the  variations  of  his  mental  consti 
tution  and  of  the  laws  of  heredity,  propounded  the  idea  of 
the  equality  of  individuals  and  races.  .  .  .  And  yet  science, 
as  it  has  progressed,  has  proved  the  vanity  of  the  theories 
of  equality  and  has  shown  that  the  mental  gulf  created  by  , 
the  past  between  individuals  and  races  can  only  be  filled  up  » 
by  the  slowly  accumulating  action  of  heredity.  Modern 
psychology,  together  with  stern  lessons  of  experience,  has 
demonstrated  that  the  institutions  and  the  education  which 
suits  some  individuals  and  some  races,  are  very  harmful 
to  others. 

"Each  people  fosters  a  mental  constitution  as  unaltering 
as  its  anatomical  characteristics,  and  the  history  of  the  his 
toric  races  has  been  determined  by  their  mental  constitution. 
The  life  of  a  people,  its  institutions,  its  beliefs  and  acts  are 
but  the  visible  expression  of  its  invisible  soul." 

"This  abyss  between  the  mental  constitution  of  the  differ 
ent  races  explains  how  it  is  that  the  superior  peoples  have 
never  been  able  to  impose  their  civilisation  on  inferior  peo 
ples.  The  idea  still  so  wide-spread  that  education  can  achieve 
this  result,  is  one  of  the  most  baneful  illusions  that  the  the 
oreticians  of  pure  reason  have  ever  brought  into  existence. 
Thanks  to  the  memory  possessed  by  the  most  inferior  beings 
— a  privilege  in  nowise  confined  to  man — it  is  doubtless  pos 
sible  for  education  to  impart  to  an  individual,  somewhat 
low  in  the  human  scale,  the  totality  of  the  notions  possessed 
by  an  European.  A  negro  or  a  Japanese  may  easily  take  a 
university  degree  or  become  a  lawyer;  the  sort  of  varnish 
he  thus  acquires  is,  however,  quite  superficial,  and  has  no 


^o  psychologist  of  recent  times  has  contributed  studies  of  greater 
interest  to  the  world  than  Gustav  Le  Bon  of  France.  His  two  books 
The  Crowd  and  The  Psychology  of  Peoples  have  provoked  wide  dis 
cussion  and  stirred  new  study  and  have  been  widely  indorsed  by 
leading  students  of  metaphysics  and  ethnology. 


220  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

influence  on  his  mental  constitution.  What  no  education  can 
give  him,  because  they  are  created  by  heredity  alone,  are  the 
forms  of  thought,  the  logic,  and  above  all  the  character  of 
the  Western  man.  Our  negro  or  our  Japanese  may  accumu 
late  all  possible  certificates  without  ever  attaining  to  a  level 
of  the  average  European.  It  is  easy  to  give  him  in  ten  years 
the  culture  of  a  well  educated  Englishman.  To  make  a  real 
Englishman  of  him,  that  is  to  say,  a  man  acting  as  an  Eng 
lishman  would  act  in  the  different  circumstances  of  life,  a 
thousand  years  would  scarcely  be  sufficient.  It  is  only  in 
appearance  that  a  people  suddenly  transforms  its  language, 
its  constitution,  its  beliefs  or  its  arts.  For  such  changes,  to 
be  readily  accomplished,  it  would  be  necessary  that  it  should 
be  able  to  transform  its  soul." 

Therefore,  for  a  people  to  transform  those  institutions, 
beliefs  and  acts,  it  must  first  transform  its  soul.  Is  Japan 
transforming  her  soul?  Is  she  not  rather  intensifying 
and  strengthening  it  under  the  pride  of  achievement  and 
the  belief  in  its  superiority;  and  must  we  not  expect  her 
life  and  institutions  to  be  correspondingly  deepened  and 
intensified  ?  For  again  we  call  attention  to  the  distinction 
that  although  Japan  has  assumed  in  business,  manu 
factures,  and  trade  some  of  the  material  forms  coincident 
with  and  developed  by  a  Christian  civilisation,  she  has  not 
incarnated  the  invisible  spirit  of  Christian  life,  but  ex 
presses  her  own  spirit  in  her  own  life,  in  her  own  way. 
Mr.  Gulick,  therefore,  in  his  arguments  for  assimila 
tion  makes  the  fundamental  blunder  of  assuming  that 
while  the  material  part  of  man  is  obedient  to  the  laws  of 
heredity,  the  more  important  part,  that  is,  his  psychic 
nature,  has  no  determination  by  heredity  and  is  wholly 
a  creature  of  the  accidents  of  circumstances.  This 
blunder  is  clearly  exposed  by  the  statements  of  the 
scholars  that  I  have  cited.  For  Le  Bon  says  further, 
"The  identity  of  mental  constitutions  in  the  majority  of 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 


individuals  of  a  race  is  due  to  very  simple  psychological 
reasons.  Each  individual  is  the  product  not  only  of  his 
immediate  parents  but  also  of  his  race,  that  is,  of  the 
entire  series  of  his  ascendants." 

Dr.  Robert  Tuttle  Morris,  professor  of  surgery  in  the 
New  York  Post  Graduate  Medical  School,  trustee  and 
director  in  educational  and  financial  corporations,  mem 
ber  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  author,  lecturer,  makes  the  following  author 
itative  statements  : 

"The  melting  pot  idea  of  Zangwill  is  merely  a  meta 
physical  conception  not  based  upon  biological  fact.  When 
plants  of  closely  allied  varieties  are  crossed,  we  get  a  more 
durable  form  than  is  the  case  if  the  cross  is  made  between 
plants  of  different  species.  The  protoplasmic  adjustment  in 
the  case  of  different  species  becomes  a  shock,  and  the 
effects  of  this  shock,  when  the  two  species  are  joined,  injures 
the  vitality  of  the  resultant  plants.  The  same  is  true  with 
nations.  If  a  nation  is  made  up  of  peoples  closely  related 
in  variety,  it  will  have  stronger  tendencies  for  development 
and  greater  vitality  than  would  be  the  case  in  a  nation  made 
up  largely  of  peoples  widely  different  in  racial  character 
istics.  On  the  other  hand,  the  crossing  of  widely  different 
peoples,  like  the  Negro,  Semitic,  Tartar,  Malay  and  such 
types,  produces  an  unstable  breed  with  unsettled  ideas  and 
lacking  the  ability  of  mass  action." 

But,  says  Mr.  Gulick,  it  is  not  necessary  to  have  the 
Japanese  intermarry  with  the  whites  ;  they  can  live  in  this 
country  and  probably  should  live  in  this  country  as  a  dis 
tinct  race.  This,  of  course,  he  applies  to  all  Asiatics, 
and  some  sentimentalists  are  won  to  this  argument.  But 
I  submit  that  this  cannot  and  will  not  be  done.  We  can 
not  say,  "Come  on  in,  Asiatics,  take  all  the  rights  of 
American  citizenship,  and  all  the  privileges  of  our  chil 
dren,  but  remain  distinct,  keep  your  racial  integrity." 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


No  two  races  have  ever  dwelt  together  in  any  one  land, 
on  an  equal  basis  of  citizenship,  and  have  not  had  their 
bloods  commingled.  Worse  still,  no  two  races  have  ever 
dwelt  long  and  promiscuously  together  in  any  one  land  on 
any  conditions  and  have  not  had  their  bloods  commingled. 
The  longer  the  races  thus  live  together  the  more  certain 
is  their  mixture.  Americans  need  only  to  lift  their  eyes 
to  see  how  true  these  statements  are  in  our  own  country, 
in  our  own  time,  and  by  our  own  people.  To  admit  the 
Asiatics  into  the  United  States  on  these  equal  terms, 
means  simply  that  we  yield  to  their  demands  to  mix  their 
racial  bloods  with  ours. 

Against  this  huge  folly,  against  the  great  American  illu 
sion,  against  the  idea  of  the  melting  pot,  and  despite  all 
of  the  asseverations  of  the  advocates  of  race  mixture,  I 
submit  four  generalisations  and  will  leave  the  facts  from 
which  they  are  derived  for  another  volume  at  another 
time. 

First.  No  great  human  stock  has  come  out  of  a  radi 
cal  race  cross.  Those  human  stocks  that  have  developed 
highest  civilisations  have  been  persistent  as  types  without 
serious  mixture  for  many  hundreds,  even  thousands  of 
years  before  they  have  produced  their  civilisations. 

Second.  No  mixed  race  has  ever  reached  any  notable 
degree  of  civilisation  whatever  until  it  has  been  fixed  in 
type  by  hundreds  of  years  of  hereditary  processes. 

Third.  No  nation  or  people  of  a  pure  or  fixed  racial 
type,  which  has  produced  a  high  civilisation,  has  main 
tained  its  high  civilisation  after  it  has  mixed  with  another 
race  as  radically  different  as  black  and  white,  yellow  and 
white,  or  brown  and  white. 

Fourth.  Wherever  the  white  race  has  attempted  to 
cross  a  pigmented  race,  it  has  lost  its  racial  characteristics 
and  lowered  its  civilisation.  Gustav  Le  Bon  says,  "The 
$mall  number  of  white  men  transported  into  the  midst  of 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      223 

a  numerous  negro  population  disappear,  after  a  few  gen 
erations,  without  leaving  any  trace  of  their  blood  among 
their  descendants.  All  the  conquerors  who  have  invaded 
too  numerous  populations  have  disappeared  in  the  same 
way.  They  have  been  able,  as  has  been  done  with  the 
Latins  in  Gaul  or  the  Aryans  in  Egypt,  to  leave  behind 
them  their  civilisations,  their  arts,  and  their  language; 
but  they  have  never  been  able  to  bequeath  their  blood. 
To  cross  two  peoples  is  to  change  simultaneously  both 
their  physical  constitution  and  their  mental  constitution, 
transforming  in  a  fundamental  manner  the  character  of 
the  people. 

"The  first  effect  of  inter-breeding  between  different  races 
is  to  destroy  the  soul  of  the  races,  and  by  their  soul  we  mean 
that  congeries  of  common  ideas  and  sentiments  which  make 
the  strength  of  peoples  and  without  which  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  nation  or  a  fatherland.  The  period  of  inter-breed 
ing  is  the  critical  period  in  the  history  of  peoples.  It  is  a 
period  full  of  intestine  struggles  and  of  vicissitudes,  and 
it  continues  so  long  as  the  new  psychological  characteristics 
are  not  fixed.  A  people  may  sustain  many  losses,  may  be 
overtaken  by  many  catastrophes,  and  yet  recover  from  the 
ordeal,  but  it  has  lost  everything  and  is  past  recovery  when 
it  has  lost  its  soul. 

"The  dissolution  of  historical  races  is  the  result  of  cross 
breeding;  the  peoples  which  have  preserved  their  unity  and 
force,  the  Aryans  for  example  in  India  in  the  past,  and  in 
modern  times  the  English  in  their  various  colonies,  are  those 
who  have  always  carefully  avoided  intermarrying  with  for 
eigners.  The  presence  in  the  midst  of  the  people  of  for 
eigners,  even  in  small  numbers,  is  sufficient  to  affect  its  soul, 
since  it  causes  it  to  lose  its  capacity  for  defending  the  char 
acteristics  of  its  race,  the  monuments  of  its  history  and  the 
achievements  of  its  ancestors." 

Le  Bon  clearly  prefigured  the  case  of  the  Japanese 
aggression  upon  the  United  States.  He  says : 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


"It  was  the  pacific  and  not  the  warlike  invasions  which 
brought  about  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  barbar 
ians,  far  from  having  wished  to  overthrow  Roman  civilisa 
tion,  devoted  all  their  efforts  toward  adopting  and  continuing 
institutions  of  which  they  were  the  respectful  admirers. 
We  are  probably  destined  to  witness,  in  contemporary  his 
tory,  pacific  invasions  analogous  to  those  which  brought 
about  the  transformation  of  Roman  civilisation.  It  may 
seem  now-a-days  there  are  no  longer  any  barbarians,  but 
though  the  barbarians  may  seem  to  be  very  distant,  they  are 
in  reality  very  close,  far  closer  than  at  the  time  of  the  Roman 
emperors.  The  fact  is  that  they  exist  in  the  very  bosom  of 
the  civilised  nations.  Each  people  contains  an  immense 
number  of  inferior  elements  incapable  of  adapting  them 
selves  to  a  civilisation  that  is  too  superior  for  them.  There 
results  an  enormous  waste  of  population;  and  the  people, 
who  come  to  be  invaded  by  it,  will  have  reason  to  dread  the 
experience." 

At  the  present  day,  it  is  towards  the  United  States  of 
America  that  these  new  barbarians  direct  their  steps  with 
a  common  accord.  He  says  : 

"Our  humanitarian  principles  condemn  us  to  undergo  an 
ever-increasing  foreign  invasion.  The  conflicts  on  the  soil 
of  the  great  republic  will  be  in  reality  conflicts  between  races 
which  have  reached  different  levels  of  evolution. 

"An  agglomeration  of  men  of  different  origin  do  not  form 
a  race,  do  not  possess  a  collective  soul.  The  acquisition  of 
a  solidly  constituted  collective  soul  marks  the  apogee  of  the 
greatness  of  the  people.  The  dissociation  of  this  soul  al 
ways  marks  the  hour  of  its  decadence.  Peoples  are  centuries 
long  in  acquiring  a  certain  mental  constitution,  which  they 
sometimes  lose  in  a  very  short  space  of  time.  The  ascending 
path  is  always  very  long  ;  while  the  decline  which  leads  them 
to  decadence,  is  most  often  very  rapid." 

What  do  the  melting-pot  propagandists  offer  America 
in  exchange  for  her  dead  soul  in  the  pot? 


CHAPTER  XIX 
FACTS  PERTINENT  TO  OPINION 

A  CHAPTER  OF  ANSWERS 

BEFORE  we  can  enter  upon  our  final  chapter,  "The  Solu 
tion  of  the  Problem,"  we  must  meet  a  number  of  ques 
tions  that  arise  from  the  arguments  of  the  propagandists. 
Are  the  Japanese  decreasing  in  number  in  the  United 
States?  We  admit  Italians,  Czechs,  Slavs,  Greeks,  etc., 
why  not  admit  the  Japanese?  Can  Americans  own  land 
in  Japan?  Is  Japan  poor,  could  she  make  war  on  the 
United  States?  What  was  the  recent  diplomatic  flurry 
about  ?  Do  we  naturalise  any  Asiatics  ? 

Are  Japanese  decreasing  in  number  in  the  United 
States? 

The  public  is  told  that  there  are  very  few  Japanese  in 
this  country  and  that  their  presence  does  not  affect  eco 
nomic  conditions,  and  that  this  Japanese  population  is 
diminishing,  from  the  fact  that  more  Japanese  return  to 
Japan  than  arrive  each  year.  Although  there  may  have 
been  such  a  reaction  for  a  year  or  more  after  the  enact 
ment  of  the  Anti- Alien  Land  Bill,  the  condition  does  not 
prevail  now.  The  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration 
shows  that  in  1914  the  actual  increase  in  the  United  States 
was  2,162,  in  Hawaii  1,951;  in  1915  the  increase  was 
3,208  in  the  United  States,  and  688  in  Hawaii.  Thus  in 
two  years  the  total  was  7,009.  As  nearly  all  of  these, 
sooner  or  later,  find  their  way  into  California,  the  Japanese 
population  of  California  is  continuing  to  increase.  While 
in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  comparing  the  report  of  the 

225 


226  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Governor  of  1910  with  that  of  1915,  there  is  a  total  in 
crease  of  14,462  in  the  Japanese  population. 

But  the  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  Japanese  born 
in  California  is  a  matter  of  the  most  profound  significance. 
The  real  meaning  of  the  picture  bride  immigration  and  the 
fecundity  of  the  Japanese  women  is  seen  in  the  last  report 
of  the  chief  statistician  for  the  state  board  of  health.  The 
Japanese  birth-rate  has  more  than  trebled  in  five  years — 
the  percentage  being  336. 

In  1911  there  were  995  Japanese  children  born  in  California. 
In  1912       "       "  1,467 
In  1913       "       "  2,216 
In  1914       "       "  2,874 

In  1915       "       "  3,342 ;  this  is  7  per  cent,  of  the  total  births 
of  the  State. 

In  Sacramento  county  (exclusive  of  Sacramento  city, 
the  capital  of  the  State,  and  Watsonville)  the  number  of 
Japanese  births  exceeded  the  number  of  white  births; 
there  were  in  the  rural  portions  of  the  county  193  Jap 
anese  babies,  and  167  white  babies;  in  Watsonville  there 
were  no  Japanese  babies  and  103  white  babies  born  in 
1915.  Many  of  the  Japanese  men  have  not  yet  secured 
their  wives  from  Japan.  This  difference  in  favour  of  the 
Japanese  is  rapidly  to  increase. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  the  annual  births  in  five  years 
show  a  net  gain  of  2,347,  the  annual  deaths  show  an  in 
crease  of  only  200,  reaching  a  maximum  for  the  state  of 
633.  This  is  an  increase  by  births  of  528  per  cent,  of  the 
total  loss  by  deaths,  or  5^4  to  i,  a  net  gain  of  4%.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  facts  in  the  vital  statistics 
of  the  world. 

The  Japanese  prefer  the  United  States  over  all  coun 
tries.  The  following  table  published  by  the  Japanese 
Foreign  Office  shows  the  location  of  all  the  Japanese  who 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      227 

are  resident  abroad.  It  shows  that  there  was  a  total  of 
358,711  Japanese  outside  of  their  own  country,  June  30, 
1914,  and  that  the  United  States  contained  just  about  one- 
half  of  them,  176,879.  The  total  under  the  British  flag 
was  only  about  one-seventh  as  many,  while  in  China  there 
is  only  68  per  cent,  as  many. 

"JAPANESE  AWAY  FROM  HOME" 

China   121,596 

Hawaii 90,808 

United  States  (proper) 80,773 

Philippine  Islands 5>I79 

Guam  119 

(Total  under  American  flag,  176,879) 

Australia   6,661 

Canada 1 1,950 

British    India 845 

Hongkong   1,555 

Singapore    5,i66 

Great  Britain 478 

(Total  under  British  flag,  26,655) 

Brazil 15,642 

Peru  5,381 

Russia  in  Asia 4,563 

Mexico 2,737 

Dutch    Indies 2,949 

Saigon    161 

Siam 218 

Argentina    683 

Chile 305 

Germany    434 

Russia  in  Europe 89 

France   129 

Austria  Hungary 37 

Italy   17 

Belgium  15 

Switzerland  .    , 1 1 


228  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Spain    8 

Sweden 6 

Netherlands 5 

Portugal    2, 


Total 


Shall  we  exclude  Asiatics  and  admit  people  of  Southern 
and  Eastern  Europe  ? 

We  cannot  accept  the  argument  that  we  might  as  well 
let  the  Japanese  and  all  other  races  of  Asia  come  into  our 
country  as  to  let  the  low  standard  people  of  Southern  and 
Eastern  Europe  come.  If  America  expects  to  preserve 
the  unity  of  her  ideals  or  even  maintain  the  character  of 
her  civilisation,  much  more  the  level  of  her  standard  of 
living,  all  of  these  undesirables  must  be  debarred  until  we 
can  recover  the  virility  we  have  lost.  The  addition  of  a 
second  disease  will  not  cure  the  first. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Kellogg1  makes  some  startling  statements  in 
regard  to  the  sick,  inefficient  and  incompetent,  whose  num 
bers  are  constantly  replenished  and  increased  in  our 
country  by  the  progeny  of  the  poor  stocks  of  Europe. 
The  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration  (1914,  page 
7)  speaking  of  these  deficients  says,  "Medical  Science  has 
demonstrated  that  many,  if  not  all,  of  these  serious  defi 
ciencies  are  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation 
with  steady  increase  in  the  strain,  so  that  the  importance 
of  rejecting  and  expelling  aliens  of  this  class  can  hardly 
be  overestimated.  There  should  be  no  room  in  this 
country  for  the  moral  degenerate  of  foreign  lands." 

Dr.  Kellogg  indorses  this  with  his  statement  of  the 
growth  of  the  insane  in  the  East: 


1J.  H.  Kellogg,  M.D.,  F.R.S.M.,  of  Battle  Creek,  Mich.,  in  Senate 
Document  64$,  62nd  Congress. 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 


"In  1867  the  proportion  of  insane  in  New  York  and  New 
England  was  about  i  to  1,600  of  the  population.  At  the 
present  time  the  insane  in  New  York  is  i  to  273  or  six  times 
as  many,  (600  per  cent  increase  in  65  years). 

"In  hospitals  in  New  York  are  32,657  insane  —  double  the 
number  in  1890,  an  increase  of  104  per  cent  in  20  years 
while  the  state  increased  only  52  per  cent. 

"In  New  Jersey  the  feeble  minded  have  doubled  in  one 
generation  —  the  proportion  now  is  i  to  250. 

"In  United  States  150,000  insane  are  incarcerated;  there 
are  at  least  150,000  more  at  liberty.  Besides  these  lunatics 
we  have  300,000  more  idiots  and  weak-minded  people." 

The  relation  of  the  immigration  from  Southern  and 
Eastern  Europe  to  the  poverty,  illiteracy,  degeneracy  and 
insanity  of  our  Eastern  States  particularly,  is  startlingly 
shown  in  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Immigration  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  which  accompanied  their 
recommendation  of  the  Burnett  Bill  in  1916,  and  I  refer 
the  student  to  such  sources  for  a  further  development  of 
this  subject.  The  relation  of  immigration  to  crime  is  an 
other  department  of  the  same  study  for  which  see  the 
prison  reports  of  the  States. 

These  subjects  relating  to  the  "new"  immigration  must 
be  taken  by  Americans  as  causes  of  serious  apprehension 
to  be  quickly  and  radically  treated  :  —  surely  they  can  not 
be  used  as  arguments  to  admit  other  serious  causes  for 
national  care  by  the  admission  of  Asiatic  races. 


Can  Americans  own  land  in  Japan  ? 

The  answer  is  No,  not  in  fee  simple  and  only  under 
conditions  greatly  narrowing  the  right.  The  law  in  exist 
ence  is :  "Land  shall  not  be  sold,  hypothecated  or  mort 
gaged  to  foreigners,  nor  shall  deeds  or  titles  be  passed  con 
veying  to  them  ownership  rights."  This  law  never  having 


230  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

been  repealed  is  still  in  force.  President  Sherer1  says, 
"Sound  principles  support  the  doctrine  that  only  the  actual 
citizens  of  a  nation  should  own  its  land.  Has  any  nation 
shown  more  deference  to  this  doctrine  than  Japan  itself? 
Only  since  1910  has  a  law  granting  land  ownership  to 
foreigners,  of  which  we  have  heard  so  much,  shown  its 
face  on  the  minutes  of  their  Parliament;  and  when  we 
examine  its  features  we  discover  a  somewhat  noticeable 
reserve.  This  ordinance  prevents  itself  from  going  into 
force  until  the  Emperor  determines  to  issue  it,  and  this 
he  never  has  done.  It  requires  that,  in  case  of  an  indi 
vidual,  he  shall  be  actually  resident  in  Japan  during  the 
period  of  ownership,  and  that,  in  the  case  of  corporations, 
the  Home  Secretary  must  specifically  approve;  that  the 
home  nation  of  such  land-holding  aliens  must,  as  a  pre 
requisite  condition  of  their  land-holding,  grant  to  Jap 
anese  the  reciprocal  right  to  hold  land ;  that  its  provisions 
shall  in  no  case  extend  to  Saghalien,  Formosa,  or  the  Hok 
kaido,  the  only  places  where  there  is  the  slightest  room 
for  foreigners ;  further  that  its  provisions  shall  not  extend 
to  any  district  whatsoever  which  the  Emperor  may  at  any 
time  proclaim  to  be  requisite  to  the  national  defence ;  and 
that  in  case  of  the  violation  of  any  one  of  the  terms  of 
this  carefully  hedged-about  ordinance,  the  property  shall 
be  escheat  to  the  state.  Japan  has  long  had  Alien  Land 
Laws,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  preceding  summary  of  the 
reservations  in  the  statute  passed  by  Parliament,  April  13, 
1910.  The  repeal  of  these  Alien  Land  Laws  is  theoretical 
rather  than  practical  and,  even  should  it  be  put  into 
effect,  the  rights  granted  to  aliens  would  be  rigidly  limited, 
besides  being  revocable  at  any  time." 

Barnes  A.  B.  Sherer,  President  of  Throop  College  of  Technology, 
Pasadena,  California,  in  The  Japanese  Crisis.  "President  Sherer 
is  by  training,  education  and  by  long  residence  as  teacher  in  Japan 
qualified  to  speak  with .  authority." 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 


Is  Japan  poor? 

On  one  side  the  Japanese  make  the  threat  of  war1  if 
the  California  Land  Law  is  not  repealed;  on  the  other 
the  pacifists  argue  that  there  is  no  fear  of  war  with  Japan 
because  she  is  not  rich  enough  to  make  war  against  the 
United  States.  This  mental  habit  of  coining  all  his 
thoughts  into  the  language  of  peace  and  war  makes  the 
pacifist  incompetent  to  discuss  such  questions  upon  their 
merits.  One  recently  said  to  me,  "Why  are  you  discuss 
ing  the  Japanese  Problem?  There  is  no  danger  of  war 
with  Japan,  for  Japan  is  unable  to  make  war.  She  is 
poverty  stricken  and  helpless,  overburdened  with  national 
debts.  She  does  not  wish  to  commit  hari-kari  by  engaging 
the  United  States  in  war." 

"But,"  I  said,  "I  am  not  discussing  the  Japanese  ques 
tion  from  the  standpoint  of  war.  I  look  at  it  wholly  as  a 
question  of  national  and  racial  welfare  to  both  nations  and 
never  permit  my  mind  to  dwell  upon  the  contingencies 
incidental  to  the  problem."  But  this  gentleman  could  not 
see  that  there  was  anything  in  the  whole  question  except 
whether  or  not  we  should  have  war  with  Japan,  and  in  less 
than  ten  minutes  I  had  to  recall  his  mind  five  times  from 
the  discussion  of  war  to  the  discussion  of  the  problem 
itself. 

Is  Japan  poor?    Is  Japan  too  poor  to  make  war? 

Since  David  Starr  Jordan,  the  expert  in  economics  and 
pacifism,  stated  on  the  I7th  day  of  July,  1914,  that 
Europe  would  never  have  another  war  because  she  was 

'It  is  significant  to  find  in  the  Year  Book  of  Japan  for  1915,  a 
semi-official  publication  with  an  introduction  by  Prince  Okuma,  the 
following  bland  statement  under  the  general  heading  of  The  Navy. 

"OBJECT  OF  EXPANSION  AND  IMAGINARY  ENEMY 
The  object  of  expansion  of  national  armament  is  primarily  to 

guard  our  interest  in  Manchuria  and  China,  and  next  to  be  prepared 

against  a  possible  emergency  with  the  U.  S.  A." 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


not  rich  enough  to  afford  it,  I  have  eliminated  from  this 
question  two  things  : 

First,  That  the  status  of  a  nation's  finances  probably 
has  little  to  do  in  deterring  it  from  entering  war  if  its 
emotional  status  is  that  of  war. 

Second,  That  pacifists  show  a  conspicuous  incompe 
tence  to  render  judgment  upon  the  question  of  which 
nations  are  too  poor  for  war. 

The  European  war  has  now  lasted  over  two  years. 
England,  Germany,  France,  Russia,  Austria  and  Italy 
have  used  wealth  and  money  into  aggregates  which 
stagger  thought.  Yet  the  credit  of  none  of  them  seems 
to  be  impaired  and  not  one  seems  to  be  crippled  in  any 
degree  by  lack  of  money  and  resources.  This  leads  one 
to  think,  after  all,  that  poverty  and  expenditure,  credit 
and  debit,  play  a  part  in  war  far  less  important  than  that 
our  general  theories  have  assigned  them.  These  nations 
after  spending  enough  to  make  them  all  apparently  very 
poor,  (in  as  much  as  Dr.  Jordan  said  they  were  too  poor 
to  begin  a  war)  go  right  on  with  larger  and  larger  plans 
defying  one  another  to  outstarve,  outlast,  outspend  or 
over-draw  their  respective  credits. 

But  Japan  is  not  poor  if  men  of  authority,  experience 
and  travel  can  be  believed.  It  was  only  a  short  time  before 
the  war  that  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  of  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Redfield,  made  a  statement  in  regard  to  Japan, 
and  it  is  so  clear  and  so  authoritative  that  we  submit  some 
of  it.  He  shows  many  things:  That  she  is  solvent;  that 
her  treasury  shows  a  surplus  every  year;  that  besides 
natural  wealth  she  has  resources  in  labour,  which  are  very 
rich  and  of  extraordinary  importance,  and  she  controls 
them  with  an  absolute  hand  :  that  she  has  managerial  intel 
ligence  and  wealth  in  products,  and  unlimited  possibilities 
to  increase  all  of  these  through  the  new  countries  she  has 
just  conquered.  His  conclusion  is  that  Japan  is  not  only 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 


able  to  take  care  of  herself  in  any  direction  in  which  she 
may  send  her  energy,  but  that  she  is  taking  the  trade  from 
the  United  States  and  will  continue  to  displace  us  in  the 
East.  What  was  true  when  he  said  this  is  many  times 
augmented  now. 
Mr.  Redfield  says  : 

Japan  is  not  Poor. 

"I  do  not  want  you  to  get  the  impression  that  Japan  is  in 
any  sense  insolvent.  It  is  not.  Her  statesmen  are  guiding 
her  with  rare  self-sacrifice  and  with  uncommon  wisdom,  and 
her  treasury  shows  a  surplus  every  year.  It  is  simply  that 
her  growth  has  been  so  rapid  and  her  outreach  so  large  that 
she  lacks,  as  other  nations  do,  the  ready  cash  with  which  to 
do  the  work  as  fast  as  she  would  like  to  do  it." 

Labor  and  Industry. 

"Japan  rejoices,  on  the  other  hand,  in  a  wealth  of  labour 
of  a  remarkable  character.  I  suppose  there  is  no  more 
thrifty,  able,  capable  worker  than  the  average  Japanese.  He 
is  accustomed  to  living  to  his  satisfaction  on  the  most  limited 
scale.  He  is  of  good  mental  and  physical  capacity,  and  cap 
able  of  becoming  a  very  great  factor  in  industry." 

Managerial  Ability. 

"Nor  must  we  regard  the  men  who  control  these  interests 
as  men  whom  we  can  teach  very  much.  Mr.  Matsukata, 
who  is  head  of  the  Kawasaki  Dock  Yards,  is  a  graduate  of 
Yale  University.  Another  gentleman,  the  head  of  a  large 
cement  works,  is  a  graduate  not  only  of  Yale  but  also  of  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  One  of  the  heads 
of  these  large  factories  was  a  member  of  the  Harvard  Club, 
You  often  run  across  men  with  American  education,  to 
which  has  been  added  European  training  and  European 
brains,  a  combination  which  has  made  a  certain  selected 
number  of  these  Japanese  exceptionally  skilled  and  able 
men." 


234  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Natural  Resources. 

"As  regards  the  materials  of  industry,  the  Empire  extends 
over  so  great  a  latitude  that  the  material  products  range 
from  the  subarctic  to  the  subtropical  of  Formosa,  and  from 
the  sea  products  of  the  ocean  to  the  continental  supplies  of 
Korea.  Formosa,  I  suppose,  is  one  of  the  most  productive 
countries  of  its  size  in  the  world.  The  sea  products  are  a 
great  source  of  wealth  in  Japan.  She  draws  lumber  from 
Formosa  and  northern  Korea;  cotton  from  Korea  and 
lumber  also  from  Karafuto.  The  Empire  is  rich,  of  course, 
in  silk,  a  little  more  than  one-quarter  of  all  the  world's  silk 
comes  from  Japan,  and  about  sixty  per  cent,  of  all  we  use  in 
America  is  derived  from  there.  She  has  no  cotton  on  her 
own  soil  save  that  which  is  about  to  come,  rather  than  has 
come  from  Korea.  She  draws  some  of  it  from  India,  more 
from  China,  and  most  from  the  United  States,  but  she  is 
no  worse  off  in  that  respect  than  England,  the  largest  of  all 
cotton  manufacturers,  who  draws  her  supplies  wholly  from 
abroad.  There  cannot  fail  to  come  from  those  countries, 
Korea,  and  Formosa,  a  great  increase  in  the  agricultural 
wealth  of  the  Empire." 

Competition  in  Manufactures  and  Trade. 

"To  these  resources  she  adds  a  market  in  China,  which  is 
right  at  her  door  and  of  its  kind  is  the  largest  of  the  world ; 
and  the  presence  of  that  market  just  across  the  way  is  the 
reason  why  the  cotton-spinning  industry  took  hold  first  in 
Japan  and  has  progressed  the  most.  She  has  already  made 
her  presence  felt  in  our  cotton  mills  in  Eastern  New  Eng 
land.  Some  of  the  Chinese  trade  we  used  to  have  she  has 
taken  away,  and  will  continue  undoubtedly  to  take  more." 

Mr.  Thomas  F.  Millard,  Editor  of  The  China  Press, 
Shanghai,  who  has  traveled  and  lived  in  the  Far  East  for 
many  years,  more  than  corroborates  the  above  view  as  to 
land.  He  says : 

"It  is  incorrect  to  say  that  Japan  is  overpopulated,  in  a 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      235 

territorial  sense,  for  a  large  area  of  the  territory  of  Japan 
proper  is  sparsely  populated,  and  nearly  one-half  of  the 
arable  land  of  Japan  proper  is  uncultivated.  It  is,  therefore, 
not  lack  of  land  that  compels  Japanese  to  emigrate.  It  is  a 
desire  for  economic  betterment." 

Carl  Crow  says  of  Japan : 

"The  Government  authorities  after  a  careful  survey  of 
the  entire  country  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  simply 
by  reclaiming  the  land  which  is  inclined  at  an  angle  of  less 
than  15  degrees  the  area  of  arable  land  may  be  doubled."1 

Mr.  Crow  says  also  that  the  Japanese  Emperor  himself 
has  incomparable  wealth.  He  owns  five  million  acres  of 
land  or  more  than  five  per  cent,  of  the  total  area  of  the 
country;  some  of  Japan's  land  sells  at  $1000  an  acre,  and 
$100  is  a  conservative  average.  This  would  make  his 
land  value  equal  to  $500,000,000.  It  is  very  probably 
worth  one  billion  dollars.  In  addition  to  this  the  court  is 
a  heavy  stockholder  in  many  of  the  industrial  enterprises 
of  the  country.  These  items  include : 

60,660  shares  in  the  Bank  of  Japan. 

60,400  shares  in  the  Yokohama  Specie  Bank. 

10,000  shares  in  the  Industrial  Bank. 

80,500  shares  in  the  Nippon  Yusen  Kaisha,  the  well 

known  steamship  company. 
122,650  shares  in  mills,  railroads,  hotels,  etc. 

According  to  the  Japan  Year  Book  the  total  value  of  these 
industrial  holdings  is  $250,000,000.  Yet  the  Hohen- 
zollerns  were  accounted  wealthy  with  their  $125,000,000. 
Jefferson  Jones,  author  of  The  Fall  of  Tsing  Tau,  who 
lived  in  Tokio  as  a  newspaper  man,  adds  to  this  statement 
by  showing  what  Japan  has  done  since  the  beginning  of 

1  Jap  an  and  America. 


236  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

the  war.  He  says,  "At  the  beginning  of  the  European 
war  Japan  owed  foreign  countries  more  than  half  a  billion 
dollars.  To-day  it  has  brought  its  national  debt  down  to 
one-half  of  what  it  was  a  year  ago  and  is  creditor  to 
Russia  for  sixty  millions."  Ten  months  have  passed  since 
this  statement  was  written. 

Proofs  of  Japan's  financial  ability  are  evidenced  in  a 
hundred  ways.  Within  less  than  a  year,  she  has  launched 
ten  war  vessels;  the  total  cost  of  her  naval  program  for 
the  present  year  is  ninety  million  dollars.  Ten  months 
ago  a  Japanese  passenger  vessel  had  never  been  seen  in 
the  harbor  of  New  York,  Buenos  Ay  res,  or  Cape  Town. 
To-day  Japan's  flag  is  flying  from  vessels  in  almost  every 
trading  post  in  the  world.  While  the  United  States  has 
been  talking  "preparedness,"  Japan  has  increased  its  army 
from  nineteen  divisions  to  twenty-five,  an  addition  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men.  It  has  appropriated 
four  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  an  aviation  school.  In 
forty  days,  from  January  I  to  February  10,  1916,  the 
excess  of  exports  from  Japan  over  imports  amounted  to 
thirteen  million  dollars. 

Evidence  of  this  great  financial  advance  of  Japan  is 
seen  in  the  extension  of  her  enterprises  throughout  the 
whole  world.  "Japan  is  in  command  of  shipping  on  the 
Pacific  and  Indian  Oceans,  and  its  government  trade 
agents,  as  well  as  members  of  the  Imperial  Diet,  are  now 
in  South  America  and  Africa  scouring  the  country  for 
new  markets." 

From  Japanese  sources  we  learn  that  for  some  months 
a  powerful  Japanese  syndicate  had  been  casting  longing 
eyes  on  several  large  sugar  estates  in  the  Philippines  and 
principally  on  the  one  owned  by  the  Dominican  Order  of 
Friars,  in  the  fruitful  province  of  Logina.  On  February 
14,  1916,  a  sale  was  completed,  the  transfer  taking  place 
at  midnight,  February  27,  when  the  personal  representa- 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      237 

tive  of  the  Japanese  syndicate,  Mr.  K.  Hada,  took  charge 
of  the  estate.  On  the  following  morning,  heads  of  the 
various  departments  were  notified  by  the  new  owners  that 
their  services  were  no  longer  required,  and  their  places 
were  immediately  taken  by  Japanese  who  were  all  in  readi 


ness.1 


The  world  knows  in  a  general  way  of  the  exploitation 
of  China  by  the  Japanese.  Under  the  personal  super 
vision  of  Baron  Okura,  another  Japanese  syndicate  has 
begun  great  mining  enterprises  in  the  Yangtse  Valley. 

The  Japanese  claim  that  they  have  obtained  permission 
from  the  Chinese  Government  to  work  these  mines,  which 
are  expected  to  produce  350,000  tons  a  year.  It  is  also 
announced  that  Mr.  Hada,  who  bought  the  sugar  planta 
tions  in  the  Philippines,  is  planning  to  establish  a  cotton 
spinning  factory  at  Moskow.  "In  India,  however,  the 
greatest  development  is  taking  form.  The  enforced  ab 
sence  of  the  Germans  and  the  falling  off  of  British  effec 
tiveness  are  combining  to  give  the  Japanese  a  chance  they 
never  hoped  for.  They  are  making  good  use  of  it."  2 

Can  a  nation  that  is  poor  do  all  these  great  things?  Is 
a  nation  of  such  vast  energies  and  resources  unable  to 
make  a  war? 


What  is  the  meaning  of  the  last  diplomatic  flurry? 

The  last  diplomatic  flurry  the  United  States  has  had 
with  Japan  has  grown  out  of  Ambassador  Chinda's  objec 
tion  to  the  Burnett  Bill,  passed  by  House  of  Representa 
tives  March  30,  1916.  That  bill  contained  a  clause 
indirectly  referring  to  the  Gentleman's  Agreement,  which 
Japan  made  in  1907  to  withhold  her  labourers  from  com 
ing  into  the  United  States.  What  was  the  basis  of  Mr. 

lEast  and  West  News,  April  27,  1916. 
2East  and  West  News. 


238 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

Chinda's  objection  which  caused  the  commotion  in  the 
United  States  and  rallied  once  more  to  the  Japanese  sup 
port  the  widely  distributed  forces  engaged  in  the  Japanese 
conquest  ? 

If  there  has  been  one  thing  which  all  the  pro-Japanese 
have  emphasized  and  repeated  more  than  any  other  it  is 
the  fact  that  Japan  has  kept  faith  in  the  observance  of 
the  Gentleman's  Agreement.  This  faith  has  been  apotheo 
sized  into  the  most  extraordinary  virtue,  whereas  not  to 
keep  it  would  be  sheer  dishonesty.  What  objection  could 
they  make  then  for  having  a  reference  to  it  in  an  Amer 
ican  law? 

The  answer  to  that  question  is  another  revelation  of 
the  astute  character  of  Japanese  diplomacy.  The  Gentle 
man's  Agreement  is  not  a  treaty.  As  such  it  has  never 
been  written.  It  is  merely  a  verbal  understanding  and 
finds  its  nearest  record  in  a  description  of  it,  found  in  the 
report  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration, 
1908.  This  statement  was  made  to  the  writer  from  the 
only  source  from  whence  it  could  come  in  Washington, 
and  I  have  in  my  possession  a  copy  of  that  report,  pencil 
marked  at  the  place,  by  one  of  the  highest  officials  of  the 
government,  stating  this  fact. 

The  Gentleman's  Agreement,  therefore,  does  not  exist 
except  in  a  reference  made  to  it  in  the  treaty  of  1911  and 
in  the  memories  of  those  who  made  it — Secretary  Root 
and  Baron  Takahira,  with  the  possible  addition  of  Ex- 
President  Roosevelt.  If  the  statement  be  true,  as  given 
to  me,  that  the  Gentleman's  Agreement  is  wholly  verbal, 
it  is  only  a  question  of  a  few  years  after  these  men  have 
passed  from  the  field  of  action,  that  it  will  be  subject  to 
such  interpretation  as  either  side  may  put  upon  it,  and  it 
may  become  itself  the  basis  of  international  dispute. 
Therefore,  it  was,  that  Baron  Chinda  did  not  want  it 
incorporated  in  any  form,  by  inference  or  otherwise,  in  a 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      239 

new  Immigration  Law.  If,  however,  it  shall  be  found 
that  the  Gentleman's  Agreement  has  been  written  and  is 
on  file  in  our  archives,  the  fact  still  remains  that  the  Jap 
anese  objected  to  any  further  ratification  of  it.  What 
motive  could  they  possibly  have,  unless  it  be  that  they  con 
sider  the  Gentleman's  Agreement  nothing  more  than  a 
temporary  adjustment  of  their  contentions,  and  that 
America  will  have  to  make  a  better  settlement  even  of 
that  question  in  time  to  come? 

This  puts  two  questions  upon  the  international  table — 
the  Gentleman's  Agreement  of  1907  and  the  land  action 
of  the  Western  States  of  the  years  since  then.  It  is  ever 
the  nature  of  Japanese  diplomacy  to  leave  some  things 
unsettled  and  unfinished,  so  that  when  it  suits  her  ad 
vantage  she  may  renew  the  negotiations,  as  she  did  with 
China  in  January,  1915,  when  all  the  world  was  so  occu 
pied  that  they  could  not  interfere  with  her  unjust  claims. 

"Japanese  indignation  over  the  exclusion  features  of 
the  immigration  bill  would  seem  inordinate  if  we  over 
looked  its  diplomatic  quality.  The  Japanese  know  very 
well  that  it  is  not  because  we  regard  them  as  an  inferior 
race  that  we  wish  to  exclude  them.  Quite  the  contrary. 
We  regard  them  as  representatives  of  a  culture  so  old 
and  so  highly  developed  that  the  chance  of  their  exchang 
ing  it  for  ours  is  too  remote  for  consideration.  They  are 
not  assimilable,  and  it  is  a  condition  of  our  harmonious 
and  fruitful  national  development  that  we  should  admit 
to  our  agricultural  and  industrial  population  only  elements 
that  will  easily  blend.  The  Japanese  themselves  would 
not  tolerate  the  planting  on  their  soil  of  permanently 
alien  colonies.  Why,  then,  this  show  of  wounded  national 
honor?  So  long  as  the  matter  of  immigration  is  regulated 
by  gentlemen's  agreements,  periodically  renewable,  the 
Japanese  have  a  lever  for  exacting  concessions  with  re 
gard  to  other  matters — trade  policy  in  China,  for  example. 


240      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

An  unsettled  immigration  question  is  par  I  of  the  capital 
of  Japanese  diplomacy.  And  Japanese  diplomatists, 
among  the  most  astute  in  the  world,  will  not  permit  this 
capital  to  be  destroyed  if  protesting  is  of  avail."  1 


Are  we  naturalising  any  Asiatics? 

The  complaint  which  the  Japanese  have  made  that  there 
is  no  uniformity  in  the  decisions  which  our  courts  make  in 
regard  to  the  naturalisation  of  aliens  is  a  just  complaint. 
I  have  examined  all  the  cases  on  record  in  the  office  of 
the  Commissioner  of  Immigration,  in  Washington,  in 
which  Asiatics  have  recently  appeared  before  our  courts 
seeking  to  be  admitted.  Of  such  recent  decisions  I  sub 
mit  the  following  summary: 

Afghans — In  3  cases,  i  was  denied  and  2  were  admitted. 
Hindoos — In  9  cases,  3  were  denied  and  6  were  admitted. 
Indians  of  America — In  4  cases,  3  denied  and  I  was  ad 
mitted. 

Japanese — In  6  cases  reported,  6  denied,  none  admitted. 
Malays — In  3  cases  reported,  3  denied,  none  admitted. 
Philippines — In  10  cases  reported,  7  denied,  3  admitted. 
Syrians — In  6  cases  reported,  2  denied,  4  admitted. 

This  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  decisions  of  the  courts 
arises  from  the  fact  that  the  courts  all  over  the  United 
States  and  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  are  making  them  with 
out  any  uniformity  of  instruction.  The  hard  pressure  of 
Asiatic  aliens  upon  American  citizenship  makes  it  neces 
sary  for  our  government  to  revise,  in  greater  detail,  the 
terms  of  naturalisation.  This  problem  has  been  met  by 
Australia  (as  submitted  in  a  communication  from  the 
Government  of  New  South  Wales)  as  follows :  "I  have  to 
inform  you  that  absolute  prohibition  is  placed  upon  the 

'The  New  Republic. 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 

entry  of  Japanese  into  Australia,  except  under  the  per 
mit  for  a  limited  term,  such  term  usually  being  granted 
for  the  purpose  of  representatives  in  Trading  Houses  in 
Japan,  getting  in  touch  with  Commercial  Houses  in  Aus 
tralia.  All  Asiatics  come  under  the  same  restrictions. 
The  Naturalisation  Act,  1903,  of  the  Commonwealth  pro 
vides  that  any  person  resident  in  Australia,  not  being  a 
British  subject  and  not  being  an  aboriginal  native  of  Asia, 
Africa  or  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific,  except  New  Zealand, 
who  intends  to  settle  in  the  commonwealth,  and  who  (a) 
has  resided  in  Australia  continuously  for  two  years  imme 
diately  preceding  the  application;  or  (b)  has  obtained  in 
the  United  Kingdom  a  Certificate  of  Naturalisation  or 
Letters  of  Naturalisation,  may  apply  to  the  Government 
General  for  a  Certificate  of  Naturalisation." 

Practically  the  same  law  is  in  existence  in  New  Zealand. 
The  government  of  Canada  grants  some  privileges  of 
citizenship  to  Japan,  but  they  have  an  agreement  with 
Japan  corresponding  to  ours,  only  far  more  rigid,  which 
practically  prohibits  immigration  of  Japanese  into  Canada. 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  SOLUTION  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

AMERICA'S  greatest  danger  lies  in  the  hasty  opinions  of 
her  majorities;  opinions  made  out  of  old  traditions  coined 
into  popular  phrases;  opinions  which  come  out  of  the 
emotional  faculties  instead  of  the  intellectual  faculties; 
manufactured  opinions  made  for  a  purpose  by  methods 
and  organisations  such  as  we  have  been  studying. 

Public  opinion  must  rule,  but  public  opinion  on  a  ques 
tion  like  the  California- Japanese  Question  or  the  Amer 
ican-Japanese  Question  may  be  radically  wrong  when  it 
has  been  developed,  as  it  has  been  in  this  case.  I  know 
what  anathemas  are  placed  against  one  who  dares  chal 
lenge  the  infallibility  of  public  opinion.  But  James 
Bryce,  in  his  The  American  Commonwealth,  says  of  public 
opinion  in  America : 

"The  enormous  force  of  public  opinion  is  a  danger  to  the 
people  themselves  ...  it  fills  them  with  an  undue  con 
fidence  in  their  wisdom,  their  virtue,  their  freedom.  Such 
a  nation,  seeing  nothing  but  its  own  triumphs  and  hearing 
nothing  but  its  own  praise,  seems  to  need  a  succession  of 
men  like  the  prophets  of  Israel  to  arouse  the  people  out  of 
their  self-complacency.  .  .  .  They  admit  the  possibility 
of  any  number  of  temporary  errors  and  delusions,  but  to 
suppose  that  a  vast  nation  should  go  wrong  by  mistaking  its 
own  true  interests,  seems  to  them  a  sort  of  blasphemy  against 
the  human  intelligence  and  its  Creator." 

Public  opinion  has  become  the  supreme  court  in  this 
Japanese  Case.  Upon  the  accuracy  and  intelligence  of  its 
decision  will  depend  the  future  character  of  the  American 

242 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW 

people,  the  permanence  of  American  civilisation,  and  the 
length  of  time  our  nation  will  endure  in  its  present  form. 
Perhaps  all  the  present  crop  of  civilised  nations  must  be 
harvested  into  the  garners  of  past  history,  ours  with  the 
rest.  Each  of  them  will  reach  its  cultural  limit,  or  trans 
gress  the  laws  of  endurance  and  pass  away  as  other 
nations  have  passed  away.  "To  the  naturalist  there  is 
no  mystery  in  the  fall  of  Rome,  or  Greece,  or  Egypt.  All 
these  nations  reached  their  cultural  limitation  and  de 
clined,  just  as  so  many  varieties  of  strawberries,  for  in 
stance,  or  potatoes  or  horses,  if  you  please,  come  and  go. 
Hundreds  of  nations  have  come  and  gone  in  the  past,  and 
hundreds  of  nations  will  come  and  go  in  the  future."  1 
But  just  as  the  highest  natural  craving  of  the  individual 
is  to  perpetuate  his  life  by  choosing  a  true  course  of  liv 
ing,  so  nations  desire  to  live.  The  United  States  has 
reached  the  forks  of  the  road.  One  way  leads  to  clearer 
definition  of  its  character  and  civilisation,  which  will  pre 
serve  and  renew  its  own  racial  soul  for  long  life;  the  other 
way  transgresses  every  natural  law  and  counters  every 
historical  experience;  it  leads  to  the  loss  of  its  national 
soul  and  to  the  rapid  dissolution  of  the  material  forms 
which  that  soul  has  created. 

And  these  are  the  questions  at  the  forks  of  the  road : 
What  position  shall  the  people  of  our  country  take  toward 
these  pro- Japanese  propagandists,  whether  they  be  Amer 
icans  or  whether  they  be  Japanese  ? 

What  shall  California  do  to  remove,  as  far  as  possible, 
any  basis  for  the  concentrated  attack  which  these  are  mak 
ing  upon  her? 

What  answer  shall  America  give  to  the  propositions 
which  the  Japanese  are  now  making? 

What  course  shall  America  propose  that  will  lead  to  the 
highest  destiny  for  both  races  an<1  nations? 

'Dr.  Robert  Tuttle  Morris, 


244      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

I  need  not  detail  to  the  people  of  my  country  the  answer 
to  the  first  question.  I  have  confidence,  when  Americans 
have  come  to  see  the  Japanese  campaign  for  the  conquest 
of  American  public  opinion — its  origin,  its  motives,  and 
its  machinery — that  they  will  condemn  it  with  a  universal 
verdict.  In  no  other  country  could  such  a  campaign  be 
possible.  The  Japanese  have  not  set  up  in  any  other 
country  the  machinery  they  are  now  using  in  ours.  They 
have  not  tried,  by  such  transparent  sophistry,  to  appeal  to 
the  sentiments  and  prejudices  of  any  other  nation  as  they 
are  appealing  to  ours.  Only  in  the  last  few  months  have 
we  heard  any  criticism  made  by  them  to  the  far  more 
stringent  measures  which  have  been  taken  against  Jap 
anese  immigration  by  Great  Britain's  colonies,  Canada, 
Australia  and  New  Zealand.  Indeed,  up  to  now,  Kawa- 
kami,  Shibusawa,  and  their  American  supporters,  have 
been  heaping  high  praise  upon  these  other  countries,  the 
more  darkly  to  contrast  the  attitude  of  the  United  States. 

Because  this  campaign  if  successful  will  bring  changes 
deeply  detrimental  to  the  social  and  economic,  the  indi 
vidual  and  collective  interests  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  it  seems  to  me  it  is  the  greatest  menace  we  have 
ever  had  in  our  land.  When  the  people  come  to  see  it  and 
to  realise  that  for  all  that  is  asked  none  of  these  pro- Jap 
anese  has  offered  a  single  tangible  thing  in  return,  the 
nation  will  spew  this  sentimental  goulash  out  of  its  mouth. 
The  first  step  therefore  is  for  all  of  our  people  to  learn  to 
identify  the  press  matter,  the  books,  the  lectures,  the  ser 
mons  which  have  their  origin  in  Japanese  sources  and  Jap 
anese  influences,  and  to  rate  them  at  their  true  value. 

As  to  California,  it  must  be  a  question  of  judgment 
formed  by  counsel  with  the  government  at  Washington, 
whether  we  shall  at  this  time  disturb  or  change  at  all  the 
status  of  our  State  laws.  So  far  as  I  can  see,  there  is 
only  one  change  which  can  be  made.  That  change  would 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      245 

remove  the  contention  most  often  reiterated  by  the  Jap 
anese  and  cause  them  to  shift  their  attack  from  the  State 
of  California  to  other  States  and  from  one  contention  to 
another.  For  the  Japanese  claim  that  they  will  be  per 
fectly  content  about  the  land  question  if  California  and 
America  will  treat  their  nationals  on  the  same  plane  with 
the  aliens  of  other  foreign  countries. 

This  is  brilliant  Japanese  diplomacy,  but  it  has  two 
alternatives.  One — and  that  is  the  one  they  expect  us  to 
take — is  to  raise  the  rights  of  Asiatics  to  the  level  of  those 
of  Europeans — a  step  and  a  precedent  which  must  be  fol 
lowed  at  once  by  other  great  concessions  involving  great 
disturbances.  The  other,  is  to  deny  land  ownership  to 
any  alien  from  any  land.  This  lets  the  status  of  Japanese 
remain  as  it  is,  meets  their  point  of  placing  them  on  an 
equal  footing  with  other  aliens,  and  removes  the  whole 
contention. 

California  could  enact  a  law  making  it  impossible  for 
any  national  of  any  country  to  own  land  in  our  state  until 
he  has  become  an  American  citizen.1  Other  States  of  the 
Union  have  such  laws  regarding  alien  ownership  of  land. 

While  at  first  thought  this  course  might  seem  to  hinder 
the  rapid  progress  of  the  material  development  of  our 
State,  it  would  have  a  great  many  advantages  to  over 
match  any  apparent  loss.  It  will  give  us  a  citizenship 
more  concerned  in  our  state  welfare.  It  will  remove  the 
whole  charge  of  our  discrimination  against  Asiatics.  It 

Barnes  A.  Scherer,  President,  Throop  Institute  of  Technology, 
says :  "Moreover,  there  is  sound  argument  adducible  for  the  belief 
that  fee  simple  ownership  of  land  should  inhere  only  in  citizens.  Let 
British  or  German  citizens  cultivate  American  land  by  means  of 
leaseholds,  or  control  it  through  citizen  agents.  If  they  hunger 
for  the  unearned  increment  that  accrues  from  permanent  owner 
ship,  or  for  another  reason  aspire  to  impinge  on  our  eminent  domain, 
let  them  take  out  naturalisation  papers  .  .  .  they  are  not  ineli 
gible." — The  Japanese  Crisis. 


246      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

will  require  the  Japanese  to  make  the  same  attack  upon 
other  states  as  they  are  now  making  upon  us.  Thus  it 
will  remove  the  general  discredit  which  they  are  heaping 
upon  California,  which  must  in  time  so  set  the  sentiment 
and  attitude  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  against  us, 
as  to  diminish  the  numbers  who  are  coming  into  our  State, 
upon  whose  good  will  our  welfare  depends. 

Most  of  all  it  will  require  the  Japanese  to  focus  their 
whole  campaign  upon  the  one  course  that  will  be  left  to 
them,  which  is  to  secure  the  rights  of  citizenship  by 
naturalisation.  That  will  concentrate  their  fight  upon 
congress  instead  of  upon  us.  When  that  great  battle 
comes,  the  publicists  of  the  Pacific  States  will  have  need 
to  disseminate  the  truth,  and,  by  the  facts  in  the  case,  to 
convince  the  citizens  of  the  Eastern  States  of  the  right 
eousness  of  our  course.  When  this  contest  comes — and 
it  is  coming  very  rapidly — the  people  of  the  whole  country 
will  pass  upon  America  its  final  sentence  for  national  unity 
and  racial  purity ;  and  the  people  of  the  Pacific  Coast  will 
be  obliged  to  submit  to  that  sentence.  Another  test  of 
the  strength  of  American  cohesion,  such  as  that  made  at 
the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  is  soon  to  be  made.  In  an 
address  to  several  hundred  men  of  Boston,  I  once  had  the 
privilege  to  indicate  what  that  test  is.  "We  people  of  the 
Pacific  States  know  that  if  we  do  not  protect  the  interests 
of  the  American  people  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  you  men 
of  the  Atlantic  Coast  will  not  do  so,  because  you  are  too 
deeply  engrossed  in  your  own  affairs,  and  you  are  ignorant 
of  the  manner  in  which  those  interests  are  invaded.  If 
we  are  a  real  nation  you  will  attend  to  your  own  business 
protecting  the  welfare  of  the  United  States  on  the  At 
lantic  Coast,  and  you  will  have  enough  confidence  in  the 
Americanism,  the  integrity,  and  the  intelligence  of  the 
people  of  the  West  to  back  us  up  while  we  protect  our 
common  national  interests  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  When 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      247 

the  bond  of  mutual  confidence,  which  this  requires,  is 
weakened  or  broken,  the  American  people  will  have  lost 
that  unity  of  soul  which  makes  them  a  living  nation."  1 

Whether  or  not  the  people  of  California  take  this  new 
step  to  eliminate  the  charge  of  discrimination,  they  should 
renew  their  confidence  in  the  course  they  have  thus  far 
taken.  Mr.  Gulick  himself  admits  that  between  1900  and 
1906  the  news  of  the  great  chances  to  get  rich  in  Cali 
fornia  swept  over  Japan  like  a  great  wave,  and  literally 
millions  of  Japanese  were  preparing  to  go  to  America. 
The  course  of  California  has  ended  that  and  that  course 
is  right  still.  Take  courage  and  hold  fast. 

You  are  pioneers  in  a  new  era  of  the  immigration  not 
only  of  the  United  States  but  of  the  world :  for  your  guid 
ance  there  has  been  no  precedent  in  any  land.  You  have 
established  a  precedent.  The  future  will  clearly  prove  the 
prophetic  vision  of  those  of  you  who  have  been  defend 
ing  the  interests  of  our  common  country  and  your  deeds 
will  be  written  down  as  righteous  and  glorious. 

For  you  have  acted  upon  a  basic  principle  of  self-pres 
ervation  which  is  laid  down  by  the  leading  sociologists 
of  our  time;  it  is  this:  When  the  representatives  of  more 
backward  countries,  representing  a  lower  standard  of  liv 
ing  begin  to  come  the  members  of  more  advanced  races 
cease  coming.12  That  principle  will  operate,  not  only  in 
regard  to  the  best  people  from  foreign  lands,  but  it  will 
deter  the  people  from  other  states  of  the  Union  from 
coming  in  to  your  state.  Any  Calif ornian  who  aligns  him 
self  with  this  movement  to  make  it  easier  for  Asiatics  to 
come  into  the  State,  or  buy  land,  or  enter  into  the  citizen 
ship  of  the  state,  is  working  to  stop  the  immigration  of 
those  whom  we  desire  to  come;  he  is  an  enemy  to  his 
own  state  whatever  the  emotional  basis  of  his  action  may 

'Address  before  the  Boston  Art  Club. 

"This  principle  is  stated  by  Fairchild  and  others. 


248 THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

be.  The  doors  of  other  white  lands  are  closed  to  Asia 
and  they  will  not  soon  be  opened.  If  the  United  States 
opens  her  doors,  she  will  receive  the  whole  outflow  of  the 
yellow  and  brown  races; — the  Pacific  Coast  States  first 
of  all, — and  California,  first  of  these,  will  be  lost  to  the 
United  States  and  to  the  white  race  i1 

Patience,  then,  while  science  proves,  while  experience 
teaches,  while  the  nation  learns  this  lesson  which  you  have 
learned  in  self-preservation.  In  the  meantime,  you  must 
meet  publicity  with  publicity  and  false  charge  with  cor 
rect  answer,  and  do  everything  within  your  power  to 
maintain  for  the  people  of  the  West  coast  that  character 
for  intelligence,  righteousness,  and  peace,  which,  until 
attacked  by  the  Japanese  propagandists,  had  never  been 
assailed. 

What  answer  shall  the  United  States  make  to  Japan  ? 

Our  government  has  expressed  its  belief  that  we  have 
kept  all  treaties  in  good  faith.  It  has  offered  to  try  in 
our  Federal  Courts  any  cases,  and  reimburse  Japanese 
subjects  for  any  losses  resulting  from  any  law  in  any 
state.  This  Japan  denies  and  declines.  We  have  offered 
to  purchase  at  full  market  value  every  acre  owned  by  the 
Japanese  in  our  country.  This  offer  she  has  refused. 
Japan  has  two  contentions :  That  our  land  laws  are  un 
just,  and  that  discrimination  against  Asiatics  in  our  na 
turalisation  laws  should  be  removed.  She  offers  us  two 
inducements  to  make  these  changes :  They  are  economic 
advantage  and  continued  peace.  The  economic  advan 
tage  is  to  be  found  in  foreign  trade  opportunities  with  her 
in  Japan  and  her  provinces,  and  in  the  wealth  that  her 
labourers  will  develop  in  America  if  we  let  them  come  in. 

*The  Challenge  of  the  Future,  by  Roland  G.  Usher,  of  the  Uni 
versity  of  St.  Louis,  declares  that  "America  should  not  have  the  atti 
tude  of  California  toward  the  Japanese  invasion  modified." 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      249 

If  what  she  asks  is  not  granted,  she  says  the  denial  will 
continue  to  irritate  her  racial  pride  and  impede  her  na 
tional  progress  until  her  subjects  can  no  longer  be  re 
strained  in  peaceful  relations. 

The  whole  argument  about  the  injustice  of  the  land 
laws  of  California,  Washington,  Arizona,  and  other  states 
is  unsound,  and  the  remedy  \vhich  they  offer  is  a  million 
times  out  of  proportion  to  the  evil  they  would  remove. 
The  Japanese  who  now  own  land  in  California  will  remain 
undisturbed  in  the  possession  of  that  land.  These  may 
bring  their  picture  brides  to  the  United  States.  They 
may  rear  their  children,  who,  being  born  upon  our  soil, 
are  full  priviliged  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

We  have  shown  that  in  five  years  the  births  of  these 
children  have  trebled,  and  in  some  localities  they  out 
number  the  births  of  white  children.  These  American 
born  Japanese  children  will  inherit  all  the  land  of  all  the 
Japanese  and  keep  it  forever.  The  Japanese  who  own 
land  and  have  no  heirs  that  are  eligible  to  citizenship,  can 
sell  it  to  these  American  born  children.  Already  titles 
to  land  are  being  placed  in  the  names  of  these  minors; 
there  isn't  the  slightest  doubt  that  every  foot  of  Cali 
fornia,  or  any  other  American  soil  now  owned  by  Jap 
anese  will  always  be  held  by  them.  It  is  also  certain 
that  the  American  born  Japanese  will  forever  continue  to 
make  new  purchases  and  increase  the  size  of  Japanese 
communities  until  by  this  process  alone  the  white  man  will 
be  eliminated  from  the  fairest  rural  sections  of  the  state, 
perhaps  from  all  of  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  many  of  the  Japanese  now  here  in 
tend  to  return  to  Japan,  and  many  more  now  coming  do 
not  intend  to  remain.  At  any  rate,  the  whole  number  of 
Japanese  who  are  now  ineligible  to  own  land  in  Cali 
fornia,  must,  by  the  course  of  life  and  death,  soon  pass 
entirely  out  of  this  question.  Thus  this  phase  of  the  prob- 


250  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

lem  will  have  solved  itself  by  elimination.  If  the  Japanese 
are  willing  to  accept  this  practical  solution  and  maintain 
the  status  quo,  at  the  end  of  the  present  generation  there 
will  be  no  Japanese  alien-land  problem  in  California.  It 
will  be  far  better  to  solve  the  problem  thus,  which  can 
affect  the  material  interests  of  but  a  few  Japanese,  and 
affect  them  only  temporarily,  than  it  will  be  to  take  the 
opposite  course  by  removing  the  restriction  and  admitting 
the  Japanese ;  that  will  affect  at  once  the  economic  status 
of  all  of  the  people  in  the  Pacific  States,  and  ultimately 
affect  the  welfare,  not  only  of  the  hundred  millions  of 
people  who  are  on  our  soil,  but  of  all  generations  that  are 
to  come. 

In  this  whole  controversy  with  Japan  the  United  States 
does  not  wish  to  raise  any  question  of  the  equality  or  the 
superiority  of  one  race  relative  to  the  other.  We  clearly 
understand  that  the  movement  of  Asia  toward  America  is 
an  economic  movement,  the  most  natural  and  the  most 
forceful  in  the  world.  We  realise  that  all  of  the  issues 
of  sentiment  and  religion  that  are  being  urged  are  merely 
decoys  to  distract  attention  from  the  main  issue.  So  long 
as  the  standard  of  living  of  working  men  in  the  United 
States  remains  so  infinitely  above  the  standard  of  living 
of  the  masses  of  Japan  there  will  be  a  loud  cry  and  a 
mighty  urge  in  Japan's  people  for  the  gold  of  our  Eldo 
rado.  Count  Okuma1  himself  at  last  has  acknowledged 
this.  "The  climate  of  Formosa  is  too  hot  to  permit  suc 
cessful  emigration  to  Japan.  The  standards  of  living  in 
all  these  territories  are  lower  than  those  of  Japan.  If 
Japanese  labourers  emigrate  to  Manchuria,  or  Korea,  or 
Formosa,  they  must  compete  with  native  labourers  whose 
wages  are  only  one-half  or  one  third  those  that  the  Jap 
anese  can  earn  at  home.  //  our  people  make  a  fortune  in 


*New  York  Times,  June  18,  1916. 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      251 

other  countries  we  are  satisfied"  The  superior  Japanese 
will  make  a  fortune  in  these  lower  standard  countries  as 
masters  of  labour  and  exploiters  of  natural  resources. 
But  they  seek  the  United  States  for  a  higher  level  upon 
which  all  classes  of  their  people  may  get  rich. 

On  this  economic  basis  we  cannot  accept  what  Japan 
offers  in  commerce  or  industry  as  reciprocal  returns  for 
what  she  seeks.  These  do  not  offset  the  great  losses  the 
bargain  brings  to  us.  What  she  proposes  is  in  defiance 
of  economic  laws.  Commerce  is  not  sequent  upon  friend 
ship  as  Kawakami  asserts.  Our  business  chances  already 
have  diminished,  not  increased,  in  spheres  of  Japanese 
influence,  as  our  Secretary  of  Commerce  shows;  as  the 
Orientals  acquire  more  and  more  the  knowledge  of  the 
arts  and  industries  of  white  men  they  will  acquire  the 
control  of  commerce  also. 

But  we  must  raise  this  whole  problem  beyond  the  con 
sideration  of  an  exchange  of  dollars  and  cents  with  Japan 
which  on  our  part  would  accumulate  in  a  few  industries 
and  will  never  in  any  appreciable  degree  affect  beneficially 
the  welfare  of  the  masses  of  our  people. 

America  must  not  deceive  herself  by  admitting  the 
Japanese  for  the  sake  of  business  interests.  "Business 
interests"  is  a  term  usually  applied  to  the  interests  of  the 
owners  of  great  factories  and  stores,  railroads  and  ships, 
mines  and  utilities,  houses  and  lands.  But  these  are  the 
smallest  part  of  the  true  business  interests  which  a  nation 
must  conserve.  Who  are  the  real  business  people  of 
America?  They  are  not  the  men  who  make  $25,000  or 
more  a  year  on  which  to  raise  their  families  and  own 
great  yachts  and  golf  links.  The  most  important  busi 
ness  interests  of  this  country,  the  greatest  business  men 
of  this  country,  are  the  employees  of  the  railroads — the 
mechanics,  the  engineers,  conductors,  brakemen  and 
trackmen;  of  the  mercantile  houses — the  clerks,  book- 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


keepers  and  salesmen  ;  they  are  the  school-teachers  and  the 
small  college  professors,  and  the  stenographers  ;  they  are 
the  farmers,  miners,  and  craftsmen  —  and  the  multitu 
dinous  shop  keepers  of  the  land;  they  are  those  who  earn 
from  $2.50  per  day  to  $2,000  per  year,  who  build  little 
homes  and  raise  their  families  of  children  and  teach  them 
to  labour  like  themselves,  again  to  educate,  produce,  oper 
ate,  and  transport.  These  are  the  true  business  people 
and  business  interests  which  the  United  States  must  con 
serve.  And  it  is  this  great  body  of  interests  which  will 
be  injured  by  the  displacement  of  labour  and  the  lowering 
of  the  standard  of  living,  which  will  follow  the  increase 
of  population  by  peoples  from  the  lower  standard  coun 
tries  of  the  world. 

We  cannot  grant  to  the  outside  peoples  the  great  gifts 
they  ask  for  economic  advantage,  however  much  they  may 
clothe  their  arguments  in  the  terms  of  racial  equality  and 
human  justice. 

Immigration  has  already  had  in  our  country  several 
definite  results:  First,  it  has  in  many  districts  lowered 
the  standards  of  living  of  the  working  man  by  lowering 
his  standard  of  wages.  Second,  it  has  kept  the  standard 
of  living  of  the  labouring  man  from  making  a  rise  corre 
sponding  to  the  increase  of  capital  and  wealth.  Third, 
while  it  has  enabled  a  few  to  be  "pushed  up"  in  positions 
—  a  vast  number  have  been  lowered  to  the  standard  of  the 
immigrants;  and  finally,  it  has  eliminated1  "that  other 
body  of  native  labour  which  the  immigrants  have  pre 
vented  from  ever  being  brought  into  existence." 

"The  standard  of  living  is  the  index  of  the  comfort  and 
true  prosperity  of  a  nation.  A  high  standard  is  a  priceless 
heritage,  which  ought  to  be  guarded  at  all  cost.  The  United 
States  has  always  prided  itself  on  the  high  standard  of  liv- 


^airchild,  Immigration,  p.  303. 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      253 

ing  of  its  common  people,  but  has  not  always  understood  on 
what  that  standard  rests."1 

"The  investor,  landowner,  or  contractor  profits  by  the 
coming  in  of  bare-handed  men,  and  can  well  afford  to  preach 
world-wide  brotherhood.  The  professional  man,  sitting 
secure  above  the  arena  of  struggle,  can  nobly  rebuke  nar 
rowness  and  race  hatred.  If  the  stream  of  immigration 
included  capitalists  with  funds,  merchants  ready  to  invade 
all  lines  of  business,  lawyers,  doctors,  engineers,  and  pro 
fessors  qualified  to  compete  immediately  with  our  profes 
sional  men  [he  should,  especially,  have  included  hosts  of 
preachers  to  take  the  pulpits,  too,]  .  .  .  the  pressure  would 
be  felt  all  along  the  line,  and  there  might  be  something  heroic 
in  these  groups  standing  for  the  equal  right  of  all  races  to 
American  opportunities.  But  since  the  actual  brunt  is  borne 
by  labour,  it  is  easy  for  the  shielded  to  indulge  in  generous 
views  on  the  subject  of  immigration.  .  .  ."  2 

For  we  can  not  bring  them  all  into  our  country. 

The  United  States  cannot  become  the  home  of  all  the 
world. — We  cannot  be  the  refuge  of  all  the  poor  and  op 
pressed,  of  all  the  tyrannised  and  lower  standard  peoples 
of  the  earth — and  "that  is  the  logical  end  of  the  course 
urged  by  the  ultra  idealists  of  our  time.  Even  if  the 
United  States  could  contain  them,  in  the  overflow  of  the 
deficient,  the  impoverished  in  body  and  brain,  and  the 
mixed  bloods  of  the  world,  we  shall  extinguish  the  light 
of  our  own  liberty  and  lose  the  soul  of  our  civilisation. 
What  shall  it  profit  the  nation  if  it  gain  the  whole  world 
and  lose  its  own  soul  ? 

We  have  representatives  from  all  lands  who  are  calling 
eagerly  to  their  friends  at  home  to  come  into  America, 
until  they  all  shall  be  in  America.  Mr.  Zangwill,  who 
coined  the  phrase,  "The  Melting  Pot"  which  is  nothing 

'Fairchild. 

*The  Old  World  in  the  New,  E.  A.  Ross,  of  Wisconsin  University. 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


less  than  a  propaganda  for  immigration  of  the  Jews,  says, 
"America  has  ample  room  for  all  the  six  millions  of  the 
Pale,"  and  urges  them  all  to  come  here  where  their  united 
vote  will  insure  them  political  power.  Zangwill  welcomes 
to  the  United  States  all  the  Hebrews  of  all  Palestine  and 
all  the  world.  Likewise  Mr.  Steiner  opens  America's 
doors  for  all  the  races  from  whence  he  came  in  Austria- 
Hungary  and  the  Balkan  States,  and  insists  that  none  shall 
be  excluded  at  the  gate.  So  Miss  Antin  pleads  the  same 
for  the  people  of  Russia  and  Poland.  So  Kawakami  asks 
entrance  and  citizenship  for  the  Japanese;  so  we  have 
Hindoos,  pleading  for  the  same  privileges  for  all  India; 
Chinese  for  China  ;  Syrians  for  Syria,  and  so  on,  until  the 
end  of  it  will  be  America  for  all  the  world,  and  all  the 
world  in  America. 

We  cannot  yield  to  the  emotional  plea  that  other  lands 
are  overcrowded,  while  the  United  States  is  practically 
unsettled.  This  is  the  plea  of  Steiner,  Holt,  Gulick, 
Kawakami,  Scudder  and  Green,  and  the  rest,  with  statis 
tics  at  their  back. 

The  very  bottom  of  their  argument  is  a  false  bottom. 
Perhaps  we  should  say  it  is  bottomless.  BECAUSE  EMI 

GRATION  FROM  OVER  POPULATED  COUNTRIES  DOES  NOT 
LESSEN  THE  POPULATION  OF  SUCH  COUNTRIES  OR  GIVE 

THE  COUNTRY  RELIEF.  When  the  pressure  from  popula 
tion  in  a  country  is  relieved  by  emigration  the  birth  rate 
rises  right  up  and  replaces  all  that  have  left.  Indeed, 
emigration  from  crowded  countries  is  a  stimulus  to  in 
creased  population  in  such  countries.  This  principle  is 
supported  by  the  very  greatest  economists  and  sociologists 
of  modern  times.  Fairchild  cites  in  proof  of  this  all  these 
great  men  :  Malthus,  John  Stuart  Mill,  Rene  Gonnard, 
Adam  Smith,  Gamier,  Roscher,  De  Molinari,  Robert 
Hunter,  Douglas  Earl  of  Selkirk,  Whelpley,  Mayo- 
Smith,  and  Taussig. 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      255 

And  experience  has  established  this  fact  wherever 
records  have  been  kept.  A  notable  instance  is  Italy; 
despite  all  the  people  whom  the  United  States  received 
from  Italy  in  the  period  from  1901  to  1911  the  population 
of  Italy  shows  no  decrease;  it  actually  increased  6.8  per 
cent,  in  that  period. 

So  we  might  take  in  a  million  a  year  from  Japan,  two 
millions  from  China,  two  millions  from  India,  two  mil 
lions  from  the  remainder  of  Asia,  give  them  all  land,  and 
make  them  all  citizens,  and  at  the  end  of  one  generation 
there  would  not  be  the  slightest  decrease  or  relief  to  Asia, 
while  America  would  be,  in  vast  areas,  uninhabitable  by 
the  white  race.  Our  standard  of  living  would  be  cut  in 
two,  our  ideals  of  morals  orientalised,  our  national  char 
acter  metamorphosed,  our  labour  problem  unsolvable,  and 
the  hope  of  all  future  generations  quenched  in  the  dark 
ness  of  the  old  world.  Unchristian  to  keep  them  out?  It 
would  be  unchristian  to  Americans  to  let  them  in. 

For  where  shall  the  American  go  ?  What  shall  be  his 
hope  if  he  is  crowded  out  of  his  own  land?  There  is  no 
new  continent ;  the  American  will  no  longer  be  born.  The 
generations  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  will  be  numbered, 
and  the  New  World  will  have  been  swallowed  up  by  Old. 
Awake,  America ! 

What  shall  we  say  to  the  special  pleaders  from  all  of 
these  lands  whose  course  will  so  end  in  our  extinction? 
Ladies  and  gentlemen,  scholars,  ecclesiastics,  mission 
aries,  metaphysical  idealists : — There  is  a  higher  mission 
for  America  than  the  one  you  plead,  which  would  make 
of  America  a  mere  place  of  residence  and  economic  ad 
vantage  for  all  men.  It  is  to  maintain  the  higher  standard 
of  living,  of  institutions,  and  of  morals  in  the  world,  and 
to  give  temporary  homes  and  full  instruction  to  those 
from  other  lands  who  would  be  teachers  and  emulators 
of  our  civilisation.  There  is  a  higher  service  for  you  to 


256  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

render  to  your  home  lands  and  missionary  fields  than  you 
choose  for  yourselves.  You  have  had  your  candles  lighted 
at  the  American  torch  of  liberty.  Go  back  to  your  people 
now  and  bear  that  light  unto  them;  live  with  them  and 
teach  them;  carry  home  to  those  who  can  never  leave 
their  homes,  and  all  who  are  yet  to  be  born  there,  all  the 
blessings  you  prize  here;  say  unto  them:  We  have  been 
away  from  you  in  a  beautiful  garden,  wonderful  in  the 
flowers  of  pure  ideals,  rich  in  the  fruits  of  free  enterprise. 
We  have  learned  their  names  and  their  natures;  we  know 
how  to  plant  them  and  grow  them ;  we  have  brought  their 
seeds  and  secrets.  Come,  now,  learn  of  us;  we  shall  plant 
our  own  gardens  in  our  own  lands  and  make  them  just  as 
beautiful  and  as  rich,  where  our  old  parents  and  friends 
and  our  tender  children  born  and  to  come  may  live  in  con 
tinued  happiness  forever. 

That  will  be  Christianity  universally  applied.  That  is 
the  road  to  peace,  the  federation  of  the  world. 

On  the  question  of  naturalisation  of  Japanese,  our  posi 
tion  should  be  just  as  clear.  First  of  all,  this  is  no  time, 
in  the  upheaval  of  the  world,  to  make  so  radical  a  change 
in  the  national  policy  which  has  preserved  us  for  nearly 
one  and  one-half  centuries. 

Professor  Ross  says  the  Chinese  exclusion  policy  has 
kept  out  of  America  six  or  eight  millions  of  Chinese. 
Probably  twenty  millions  is  nearer  the  number  of  all  the 
Asiatics  who  have  been  kept  out  by  that  principle.  Had 
they  come  it  would  not  have  given  Asia  any  appreciable 
relief,  and  it  would  have  made  a  part  of  the  United  States 
uninhabitable  by  the  white  race.  Do  we  want  to  enter 
upon  that  course  now  ? 

I  deny  the  Japanese  the  rights  of  citizenship  in  the 
United  States  on  many  grounds.  First :  Because  of  the 
great  number  of  difficulties  we  shall  enter  into  when  we 
take  that  first  step.  For  when  any  Congressman  votes  to 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      257 

confer  the  right  of  citizenship  on  the  Japanese,  he  must 
by  the  same  vote  confer  it  upon  all  in  his  class,  i.  e.,  to  the 
eight  hundred  millions  of  the  people  of  Asia. 

Kawakami  assures  us  this  is  not  true,  that  we  need  not 
do  so.  And  the  evil  selfishness  of  the  Japanese  propa 
ganda,  the  moral  quality  of  this  whole  campaign,  is  re 
vealed  in  his  statement  on  naturalisation  of  Asiatics  in 
America.  "We  say  that  the  United  States  need  not  ex 
tend  to  countries  not  yet  admitted  into  the  family  of  civ 
ilised  powers  the  privileges  which  she  has  conferred  upon 
the  subjects  of  a  country  which  has  been  recognized,  in 
the  concourse  of  the  nations,  as  a  first-class  power;  and 
we  hope  that  our  American  critics  will  give  us  credit  for 
what  we  have  accomplished  in  the  brief  period  of  fifty 
years,  and  recognise  that  Japan  is  the  only  nation  in  Asia 
imbued  with  modern  civilisation."1 

Kawakami  believes  it  will  be  perfectly  just  to  give  citi 
zenship  to  the  Japanese  but  to  deny  it  to  the  Chinese  and 
all  other  Asiatics,  because,  he  says,  the  Japanese  are  civil 
ised,  but  all  the  other  peoples  of  Asia  are  not.  He  thus 
openly  asserts  the  inequality  of  nations — while  every 
where  he  rails  at  the  United  States  for  intimating  it— 
and  he  asks  for  himself  an  equality  which  he  denies  to  the 
best  people  of  his  own  race ;  a  people  pronounced  by  those 
who  have  tried  both — as  superior  to  his  own  race.  But 
on  the  basis  of  this  proposal,  when  other  Asiatic  nations 
reach  the  rank  of  the  first-class  powers,  or  like  the  Jap 
anese  assert  they  have  done  so,  the  United  States  must 
grant  them  citizenship  also.  Already  on  that  basis — 
Syrians,  Hindoos,  Malays,  Filipinos,  have  appeared  be 
fore  our  courts  asking  for  citizenship.  Thus  whatever 
steps  we  take  in  that  direction,  however  slowly  we  may 
take  them,  the  road  has  but  one  end — Asia  in  America. 

It  is  amazing  and  beyond  belief  that  ecclesiastics  should 

xKawakami  in  Pacific  Press  Bureau  Pamphlet  issued  January,  1916. 


258  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

still  raise  the  palpably  false  cry,  that  Japan  is  picked  out 
as  the  one  nation  against  which  America  discriminates ; — 
that  is  the  "thing,  says  one  of  them,  that  has  made  proud, 
sensitive,  tremendously  efficient  Japan  wince  to  the  quick." 
Now  the  fact  is,  Japan  is  but  one  of  the  non-white  nations 
against  which  our  statute  and  our  courts  rule.  On  exactly 
the  same  ground  the  United  States  has  denied  citizenship 
to  Syrians,  Hindoos,  Afghans,  Filipinos,  Chinese,  Kor 
eans,  and  Malays,  who  have  presented  individuals  as  intel 
ligent  and  worthy  as  any  Japanese.  What  makes  Japan's 
proud,  sensitive  and  ambitious  spirit  wince  is  America's 
refusal  to  admit  her  boasted  superiority  over  all  her 
kindred  peoples,  and  on  that  basis  to  give  her  what  she 
would  be  glad  to  have  us  deny  them. 

Again,  if  we  grant  to  the  Japanese  and  the  other 
Asiatics  the  right  of  citizenship,  as  they  demand  it,  on  the 
equal  footing  of  other  civilised  nations,  we  can  place  upon 
them  only  such  restrictions  in  the  number  that  we  admit  to 
the  United  States  as  we  place  upon  the  number  that  may 
come  from  other  civilised  nations,  such  as  Germany,  Eng 
land  and  France.  For  ten  years  we  have  been  unable  to 
pass  any  effective  measures  to  restrict  immigration  be 
cause  of  the  international  pressure  of  the  representatives 
of  these  nationalities  now  here  and  of  powerful  commer 
cial  influence.  If  we  add  Asiatics  and  Asiatic  influences 
to  these,  restrictive  regulations  will  become  still  more 
difficult  and  later  on  impossible.  Should  we  make  a  uni 
form  annual  limit  of  ten  per  cent.,  or  even  five  per  cent., 
we  have  already  shown  that  within  the  present  century  our 
country  would  present  a  motley  of  mixed  populations, 
and  mixed  races  involved  in  the  greatest  economic  diffi 
culties. 

I  deny  the  Japanese  the  rights  of  citizenship  because 
they  depopulate  their  district  of  white  men,  they  lower 
the  economic  level,  they  compel  white  men  to  require  their 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      259 

wives  and  children  to  work  in  the  field  seven  days  a  week 
to  meet  their  competition  in  production,  they  set  up  their 
Oriental  civilisation,  which,  regardless  of  whether  it  be 
superior  or  inferior  to  ours,  cannot  be  mixed  with  ours. 

As  the  world  stands  now  equality  of  men  is  not  reached 
on  the  higher  economic  levels.  To  make  men  equal,  the 
process  of  life  has  been  to  make  them  all  inferior.  Any 
compromise  of  the  present  standards  of  living  in  the 
United  States  will  be  to  lower  them.  The  present  influx 
of  these  people  of  lower  standards,  from  any  country 
whatever,  even  if  continued  for  but  one  more  generation 
at  the  same  rate  as  has  prevailed  in  the  immediate  past, 
even  should  it  be  stopped  then,  will  make  the  question  of 
the  economic  status  of  our  laboring  class  hopeless  and 
unsolvable  for  two  generations  to  come.  The  standard  of 
living  in  modern  times,  in  material  civilisations  like  ours, 
is  intimately  related  to  the  heights  of  morals  and  the 
solidity  of  health,  to  say  nothing  of  the  happiness  of 
masses;  and  the  problem  of  providing  only  daily  food, 
clothing  and  shelter  for  our  poor  labouring  classes,  al 
ready  the  most  vexatious  we  have  at  present,  will  be 
further  complicated  by  any  increase  of  lower  standard 
labour  whatever. 

I  deny  them  the  rights  of  citizenship  because  that 
would  force  upon  our  citizens  a  people  who  are  unwel 
come.  "The  land  question,  which  means  the  food  ques 
tion,  subtends  all  other  sources  of  emotional  feeling, 
basically,  irrespective  of  the  more  superficial  feeling 
which  has  led  to  religious  wars  and  other  wars  of  senti 
ment" — says  Dr.  Robert  Tuttle  Morris.  This  explains 
the  emotion  described  by  an  eye-witness,  Hichborn,  in  his 
"Story  of  the  California  Legislature,  1913,"  as  follows: 
"Men  stood  before  the  Senate  Judiciary  Committee,  and 
with  tears  streaming  down  their  faces  told  of  the  pccupa- 


260      THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

tion  of  the  soil  by  Japanese  and  of  the  retreat  of  the  white 
farmers  before  them." 

That  Asiatics  are  unwelcome  has  been  the  decision  ren 
dered  over  and  over  in  terms  not  to  be  mistaken.  In 
November,  1914,  the  State  of  Washington  submitted  to 
its  people  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  which  would 
permit  the  Japanese  to  own  land  in  that  state.  The 
amendment  was  voted  down  by  a  vote  of  four  to  one. 
On  the  same  day  in  California,  when  there  were  three 
parties — Republican,  Progressive,  and  Democratic — in 
the  field,  Governor  Johnson,  a  Progressive,  was  re-elected 
on  his  Japanese  record,  by  a  majority  of  188,000  votes, 
while  Senator  Phelan,  a  Democrat,  with  a  similar  sound 
Asiatic  record,  was  elected  over  two  strong  competitors 
by  a  majority  of  25,000  votes.  Every  state  that  has  had 
a  Japanese  experience  stands  against  the  entrance  or 
naturalisation  of  the  Japanese. 

I  deny  them  the  rights  of  citizenship  because  it  is  a 
step  which  once  taken  can  never  be  retraced.  The  Jap 
anese  have  been  tried  in  only  a  part  of  our  country — they 
have  been  a  complete  failure  where  they  have  been  tried. 
I  deny  to  the  people  of  the  East  the  right  to  grant  citizen 
ship  to  them  until  the  East  has  given  a  full  trial  to  them. 
It  will  be  easy  for  the  people  of  the  East  to  vote  citizen 
ship  to  them,  it  will  be  impossible  forever  to  take  it  from 
them. 

I  deny  the  Japanese  the  right  of  citizenship,  because  the 
people  of  Japan  are  unpractised  in  democracy  and  unused 
to  the  powers  of  the  ballot.  The  Japanese  government  is 
a  monarchy  absolute  and  patriarchal. 

Professor  Burgess  says  that  the  Constitution  of  Japan 
is  merely  a  "charter  of  despotism."  Only  one  and  a  half 
millions,  which  is  one- fortieth  of  the  total  population  and 
about  one-ninth  of  the  males  of  voting  age,  are  permitted 
by  the  Japanese  government  to  vote.  It  would  be  far 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  -AND  NEW      261 

more  dignified,  patriotic,  and  worthy,  for  the  Japanese 
propagandists  in  the  United  States  to  go  back  to  Japan 
and  transfer  their  efforts  to  their  own  country  and  liberate 
their  government  to  confer  the  franchise  upon  their  own 
people,  rather  than  insist  that  the  United  States  shall  give 
it  to  them.  If  they  retort  that  we  are  conferring  citizen 
ship  upon  other  immigrants  from  other  lands,  wherein 
are  limited  rights  of  franchise,  and  that  we  should  confer 
it  also  upon  Asiatics,  the  reply  is  evident.  We  have  al 
ready  to  our  deep  sorrow  found  what  it  means  in  this 
country,  to  have  a  vast  voting  population,  armed  with  the 
power  of  the  American  franchise,  but  without  American 
ideals  and  education  to  direct  it.  The  greatest  problem 
the  United  States  now  faces,  according  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  is  to  Americanize  the  unassimilated  for 
eigners  in  our  land,  and  to  displace  European  ideas  with 
the  lofty  ones  out  of  which  the  nation  was  born. 

We  wish  the  Asiatics  to  know  that  citizenship  in  our 
land  is  not  primarily  a  question  of  race,  but  it  is  a  ques 
tion  of  individual  fitness  which  may  be  determined  by 
the  national  and  racial  inheritances  of  their  fatherlands. 
This  government  is  built  wholly  upon  an  ideal  which  is 
the  soul  of  the  nation.  It  is  the  ideal  of  civil  and  reli 
gious  liberty.  Our  nation  was  founded  by  a  group  of  men 
from  northern  and  western  Europe,  who  developed  that 
ideal,  who  were  drawn  together  in  one  land,  into  one  great 
state,  because  they  held  that  ideal  in  common.  These 
men  loved  personal  liberty  so  well  that  they  would  not  live 
without  it.  They  gave  up  homes  and  friends,  broke  away 
from  ancestral  environments  and  went  into  a  wilderness 
to  get  it.  They  came  from  the  only  centre  in  the  world 
where  men  loved  liberty  so  much  that  they  were  willing 
to  die  for  it.  It  is  that  ideal  which  is  the  soul  of  our  na 
tion,  and  that  soul  has  created  the  material  civilisation  of 
the  United  States  as  the  form  in  which  it  expresses  itself. 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


It  happens  that  that  ideal  has  had  no  place  in  Asiatic 
peoples.  Japan  is  as  absolute  a  monarchy  as  now  exists 
in  the  world,  and  the  mass  of  Japanese  people  submit 
to  and  worship  their  emperor  and  reverence  his  decrees. 
Chinese  for  thousands  of  years  have  been  under  the  same 
kind  of  despotism.  The  warp  and  woof  of  their  social 
fabric  is  the  result  of  their  own  primal  ideals,  among 
which  the  ideals  of  America  have  had  no  place.  Their 
ideals,  religions,  institutions,  their  relations  between  the 
sexes,  their  home  life,  lack  the  American  ideal.  The  eu 
calyptus  equals  the  oak  tree  in  beauty,  in  size,  in  estimate 
of  worth,  but  one  is  not  the  other,  and  the  eucalyptus 
cannot  be  grown  from  the  acorn  of  the  oak.  Those 
who  founded  our  American  state  definitely  intended 
it  as  a  white  man's  land,  because  they  believed  that  the 
vast  social  inheritances  possessed  by  other  races  could  not 
be  mixed  with  our  own  without  a  loss  of  our  national 
soul.  Old  men  cannot  be  made  over  by  transfer  of 
residence,  and  China  and  Japan  are  very,  very  old  men. 
America  was  made  from  the  youngest  child  nations  of 
Europe. 

This  in  every  case  should  be  the  test  of  citizenship  for 
those  white  men  who  come  to  America  from  any  land. 
Those  who  come  here  for  economic  advantages  have  no 
part  in  our  soul.  Until  each  one  knows  what  America's 
soul  is,  and  until  it  lives  within  him,  and  he  is  thrilled  by 
it,  he  is  not  one  of  us.  This  should  be  the  one  test. 
Length  of  residence  here,  the  ability  merely  to  read  and 
write,  are  not  adequate  conditions  for  citizenship.  No 
man  or  woman  should  ever  be  permitted  to  touch  the 
sacred  soul  of  American  institutions  with  the  power  of 
his  vote  until  his  own  soul  has  been  joined  to  ours  by  a 
common  possession  of  the  ideals  from  which  our  institu 
tions  have  sprung. 

Asiatics,  one  here  and  one  there,  may  feel  this  new 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      263 

ideal,  but  the  masses  do  not.  And  it  will  depend  upon 
Asiatics  alone  as  to  how  long  they  will  be  in  transforming 
their,  institutions  and  their  lives  to  correspond  with  ours. 
They  may  not — and  perhaps  should  not  ever  desire  to  do 
so.  Until  they  do  so,  they  are  unfitted  to  become  Amer 
ican  citizens.  When  they  do  so,  they  will  not  need  to  be 
come  such,  for  they  will  have  in  their  own  lands  every 
advantage  they  seek  in  ours. 

I  deny  the  Japanese  the  rights  of  citizenship,  because 
of  the  inherent  differences  in  their  modes  of  thought, 
which  have  developed  with  their  civilisation.  The  Jap 
anese  masses  are  the  same  to-day  as  they  were  before  the 
brief  period  of  the  last  fifty  years  began.  And 'the  Jap 
anese  are  fatalists.  What  is  a  fatalist?  A  fatalist  is  one 
who  believes  that  from  the  time  he  enters  life  in  his  cradle 
until  he  makes  his  exit  into  his  grave,  every  day  of  that 
road  of  life  has  been  fixed  for  him,  long  before  he  was 
born,  by  the  superior  gods,  his  ancestors.  Everything  is 
in  the  road,  the  ups  and  the  downs,  his  pleasures  and 
pains,  his  wealth  and  poverty.  Now,  he  must  not  try  to 
change  anything  in  that  road  nor  ask  that  anything  be 
changed.  To  ask  that  one  single  thing  be  changed  in  that 
road  would  insult  the  superior  beings  who  put  it  there. 
All  the  fatalist  does  is  to  take  the  road,  go  down  it  bravely, 
and  make  his  exist  face  front.  That  is  why,  when  an 
European  soldier  meets  a  fatalist  on  the  field  of  battle,  he 
trembles,  for  there  may  be  a  hundred  bayonets  or  a  hun 
dred  machine  guns  in  the  road,  yet  he  goes  right  on  down 
the  road.  That  is  the  way  the  Japanese  took  Port  Arthur 
and  whipped  Russia;  and,  when  they  came  back,  one  of 
them  wrote  a  book  about  it ;  and  in  that  book  you  will  find 
the  whole  philosophy  of  Japanese  fatalism.  He  says: 
"We  knew  we  would  win  before  we  started,  for  what  a 
Japanese  once  begins  he  never  quits  until  he  dies  or  wins." 
That  is  a  fatalist. 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


Now  what  do  we  teach  in  America?  We  teach  that 
every  day  we  take  the  road  of  life,  from  the  time  we  are 
able  to  say  in  our  cradle  "Now  I  lay  me,"  until  we  go 
down  at  the  last  and  say,  as  we  enter  the  grave,  "Now  I 
lay  me,"  that  every  morning,  as  the  lilies  open  to  the  light, 
if  we  will  open  our  hearts  to  the  Almighty,  he  will  that 
day  make  in  our  road  the  rough  places  plain,  and  the 
crooked  straight,  be  a  Guide  to  our  feet  and  a  Lamp  into 
our  pathway,  and  tune  us  into  the  rhythm  of  the  whole 
universe;  "For  the  effectual  fervent  prayer  of  a  right 
eous  man  availeth  much." 

Now  we  may  take  our  choice.  We  may  go  down  that 
fatalistic  road  of  the  non-interference  with  anything; 
we  may  go  down  that  other  road  of  the  Providential  inter 
ference  with  everything  ;  but  we  cannot  take  both,  and  we 
cannot  take  a  part  of  one  and  a  part  of  the  other.  Those 
two  concepts  cannot  live  in  the  human  brain  at  the  same 
time.  One  extinguishes  the  other  as  water  extinguishes 
fire.  You  cannot  have  a  Christian  civilisation  based  in 
fatalistic  thought. 

I  deny  the  Japanese  the  right  of  citizenship,  because  of 
the  fearful  sacrifices  they  ask  us  to  make  with  it,  that  is  : 
—  freely  to  marry  their  young  men  with  our  young 
women.  Kawakami  says,  "Not  only  should  Japanese  be 
granted  the  rights  of  American  citizenship,  but  they  should 
be  left  at  liberty  to  intermarry.  What  folly,  what  stupid 
ity,  what  lack  of  insight  into  human  nature,  is  possessed 
by  those  solons  who  would  try  to  put  a  ban  on  such 
unions."  That  is  the  challenge  which  the  yellow  race 
makes  to  the  white  race  of  America.  That  is  a  race  con 
flict.  The  full  impact  of  that  race  conflict  will  stagger, 
if  it  does  not  prostrate,  the  white  race  of  the  earth.  For 
each  instance  of  such  intermarriage  is  the  end  of  the  white 
stock  —  that  line  of  it  is  ended  right  there  and  forever;  it 
is  the  beginning  of  a  mixed  stock,  "inferior  to  both  parent 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      265 

stocks  both  physically  and  morally,  a  fact  which  has  been 
demonstrated  on  a  large  scale,"  and  whose  progeny  show 
rapid  degeneracy. 

I  deny  the  Japanese  the  rights  of  citizenship,  therefore, 
for  all  the  reasons  set  forth  in  the  preceding  paragraphs 
and  all  others  which  have  appeared  in  the  various  chapters 
of  this  book.  I  believe,  on  the  part  of  America,  it  is  the 
first  step  toward  a  rapid  dissolution  of  our  nationality  and 
the  loss  of  the  soul  of  our  civilisation.  I  believe  that 
instead  of  removing  the  causes  of  war  and  setting  up  con 
ditions  of  peace,  it  will  greatly  aggravate  those  causes 
and  remove  those  conditions.  The  present  war  in  Europe 
has  demonstrated  the  fact  that  race  mixture  is  av  funda 
mental  cause  of  war,  producing  war  both  through  intestine 
troubles  and  through  the  complications  with  nations  with 
out  who  are  kindred  of  the  mixed  peoples  within.  The 
Moors  came  out  of  Africa  and  went  into  Spain,  and  Spain 
had  war  for  five  hundred  years,  until  she  entirely  van 
quished  them.  The  nations  now  in  the  Balkan  states  came 
out  of  Asia.  For  five  hundred  years  they  have  been 
causing  war  in  Europe.  In  the  last  few  years  they  have 
caused  three,  and  the  present  war  involves  the  world. 
The  Turks  came  out  of  Asia  and  settled  in  Europe.  For 
five  hundred  years,  the  white  nations  of  Europe  have  been 
unable  to  Europeanise  them,  to  drive  them  out,  or  to  keep 
them  at  peace.  A  few  Asiatics  have  now  come  into  the 
United  States,  and  the  interests  of  the  two  races  are  so 
antagonistic,  the  race  repulsions  are  so  violent,  that  al 
ready  the  presence  of  these  Asiatics  has  brought  two  gov 
ernments  into  embarrassment  and  to  a  deadlock;  already 
we  hear,  on  account  of  them,  little  rumours  of  war.  If  you 
increase  their  number,  thus  aggravating  and  enlarging  the 
irritation,  these  rumours  will  develop  into  the  fears  of 
war,  and  these  will  be  followed  by  the  psychological  status 
of  the  feverish  preparations  for  war.  If  history  has 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


taught  us  anything,  it  has  taught  us  that  if  you  lay  down 
these  fundamental  conditions,  the  result  is  inevitable. 
Therefore,  I  stand  for  the  status  quo.  For  the  highest 
development  of  both  the  Japanese  and  ourselves,  for  the 
peace  of  both  countries,  and  of  all  the  world,  it  is  far 
better  that  the  Japanese  should  be  content  with  citizenship 
in  their  own  land,  or  seek  to  extend  it  into  the  lands  where 
the  people  have  a  common  racial  inheritance  and  common 
religious  and  biological  foundations. 

All  of  this,  I  am  well  aware,  is  opposed  to  those  who 
fight  the  whole  idea  of  nationality.  Out  of  the  over 
whelming  avalanche  of  books  and  papers  bearing  upon 
the  war,  this  notion  that  nationality  is  wrong  is  begin 
ning  to  rise  into  conspicuous  view.  Many  believe  that 
this  war  has  been  caused  by  over  emphasis  of  the  national 
spirit,  and  that,  therefore,  the  national  spirit  must  be 
destroyed.  The  pacifists  say  that  it  is  right  to  be  a  citizen 
of  a  nation  and  to  give  allegiance  to  a  nation,*  but  that 
every  man  has  a  greater  right  and  greater  allegiance  as  a 
citizen  of  the  whole  world,  and  that  the  road  to  peace  lies 
over  the  boundary  lines  of  nations  torn  down  and 
trampled  under  foot. 

The  pacifist  here  touches  boundaries  with  the  extreme 
Internationalist.  I  recently  had  the  pleasure  of  a  long 
discussion  with  two  brilliant  representatives  of  this  cult 
and  from  their  honest  souls  came  their  full  faith.  It  is 
about  as  follows:  A  man  is  a  citizen  of  the  world  before 
all  other  relations.  The  largest  unit  we  yet  know  is  the 
unit  of  the  family.  Nationality  or  the  spirit  of  patriot 
ism  is  the  greatest  sin  of  the  age.  There  are  no  real  dis 
tinctions  of  races ;  the  biologies  of  all  are  the  same.  There 
is  a  universal  feeling  throughout  all  animal  life,  beginning 
with  the  lower  animals,  and  the  feeling  that  exists  between 
two  men  in  friendship  is  but  an  extension  of  the  feeling 
between  a  man  and  his  dog.  The  United  States  must  pro- 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      267 

vide  that  all  men  of  all  races  who  wish  to  come  [here  one 
of  the  men  demurred]  may  come;  that  we  have  no  right 
to  say  America  belongs  to  us  because  we  happen  to  be  born 
in  this  part  of  the  world,  but  that  the  whole  world  and 
the  United  States  as  a  part  of  it,  belongs  equally  to  all 
men  share  and  share  alike. 

I  met  the  same  theory  in  a  religionist  who  said  to  me, 
"How  can  you  say  'My  country' — Why  doesn't  it  belong 
just  as  much  to  every  Japanese  and  every  Chinese?  My 
God,  man,  aren't  we  all  brethren  in  Christ?"  My  answer 
was  silence,  and  my  comfort  was  that  this  theory  was 
found  in  Boston  which  recently  was  called  by  an  eminent 
sociologist  "The  perpetual  source  of  impossible  theory." 

While  Internationalism 'may  be  the  ultimate  goal  of 
the  world  centuries  hence,  it  is  utterly  impracticable  as 
an  immediate  step,  under  the  present  constitution  of  the 
world.  Patriotism  is  not  a  crime.  Patriotism  is  a  primal 
prejudice  develgped  in  man  by  evolutionary  process  out 
of  hard  experience,  to  hold  men  together  in  groups  for 
unit  action  against  aggression.  It  is  a  life-preserving  in 
stinct, — the  universal  brotherhood  of  man  is  a  metaphys 
ical  ideal;  toward  the  latter  higher  nations  are  tending, 
but  it  can  not  be  reached  in  a  single  leap  by  destroying 
the  instinct  for  group  action  which  comes  when  some 
"brother  group"  which  has  not  this  metaphysical  ideal, 
makes  its  invasion.  It  matters  not  whether  such  invasion 
be  by  peaceful  purchase  or  armed  advance,  whether  it  be 
urged  by  economic  motives  or  religious  frenzy,  this 
primal  prejudice,  patriotism,  will  rise  to  repel  it.  To  out 
law  this  emotion  is  to  end  the  process  of  evolution,  it  is 
to  substitute  individual  action  for  group  action,  and  that 
blocks  the  way  to  the  very  goal  we  all  desire — the  ulti 
mate  federation  of  the  world  into  one  group  for  one 
course  of  action. 

The  road  toward  peace  and  world  federation  will  not  be 


268  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

built  by  breaking  up  all  nationalities  and  mixing  all  races ; 
but  it  must  be  found  in  a  co-operation  of  peoples  who  are 
alike,  and  the  federation  of  these  groups.  We  are  to  have 
equality  and  fraternity;  but  each  f rater  must  be  in  his 
own  house  and  content  with  being  denied  his  brother's 
house,  wife  and  children. 

Germany  co-operated  by  making  one  empire  out  of 
twenty-five  or  more.  England  once  had  many  kings, 
which  she  reduced  to  one;  and  then  her  colonies  every 
where  accepted  that  one,  on  a  basis  of  co-operation.  The 
American  colonies  were  thirteen  states,  now  they  are  one 
nation  with  thirty-five  more  states  added  to  the  sisterhood. 
This  all  is  progress  toward  mutual  co-operation  and  fed 
eration.  So  Asiatic  peoples  may  federate.  The  Slavic 
people  should  federate.  Like  races  in  the  Balkans  and 
Russia  should  co-operate.  The  Turks  should  condense 
into  one  country.  The  Indo- Aryan  peoples  should  come 
together.  This  federation  must  be  upon  a  basis  of  equal 
ity,  not  overlordship.  Japan  should  not  subjugate  China, 
as  she  is  beginning  to  do.  When  in  all  of  these  groups, 
in  the  long  future,  the  ideals  and  souls  of  the  units  grow 
more  alike,  the  units  can  approach  a  common  understand 
ing  in  all  relations  and  that  will  be  the  final  civilisation 
of  the  world. 

Meantime  the  crying  need  of  the  United  States  is  a 
return  to  her  original  ideals  and  a  renewal,  a  revival  of 
her  national  character.  The  most  hopeful  indication  that 
America  may  do  this,  is  found  in  the  sentiments  of  such 
men  as  Dr.  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  who,  although  he 
is  the  author  of  the  phrase  The  International  Mind,  re 
cently  before  a  very  distinguished  audience  of  editors,  at 
a  meeting  of  the  Associated  Press  of  America,  made  a 
plea  for  clear  cut  nationality.  He  said,  "Have  we  an 
American  nation?  If  so,  is  that  nation  conscious  of  the 
unity  of  purpose  and  of  ideals?  If  so,  what  is  to  be  the 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      269 

policy  of  that  nation  in  the  immediate  future?  It  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  nations  are  comparatively  new  in 
human  history.  There  were  no  nations  in  the  ancient 
world.  There  were  no  nations  until  the  dream  of  uni 
versal  political  empire  had  passed  away.  It  was  then  and 
only  then  that  a  new  organising  force  made  itself  felt 
in  the  thoughts  and  deeds  of  men.  In  the  history  of  na 
tions  the  study  of  our  America  has  a  place  that  is  all  its 
own.  The  American  nation  came  into  being  in  response 
to  a  clear  and  infinite  purpose.  The  moving  cause  was 
the  aspirations  for  civil  and  political  liberty  and  for  indi 
vidual  freedom.  What  do  we  want  to  have  said  about 
the  way  in  which  America  met  the  greatest  crisis  in  the 
1  history,  in  modern  times,  1916?  Do  we  want  a  nation 
weak,  broken  to  pieces,  irresolute,  filled  with  conflict  and 
discordant  voices,  or  do  we  wish  for  a  nation  unified, 
strong,  sympathetic,  and  ready  to  respond  to  the  cause  of 
a  common  purpose  to  serve  all  humanity?" 

Senator  Albert  W.  Beveridge,  of  Indiana,  recently 
voiced  the  same  sentiment,  "We  must  build  up  a  national 
unity  and  consciousness,  as  separate  and  different  from 
that  of  any  other  country  as  Russia  is  different  from 
Germany,  or  France  is  different  from  both." 

Mr.  Norman  Angell,  whose  name  has  been  given  to 
!  the  peace  movement  of  England,  who  is  known  through 
out  the  world  as  an  advocate  of  peace  and  disarmament, 
in  an  address  before  Chautauqua  Institution  in  1915, 
made  this  statement:  "It  is  impossible  to  amalgamate  all 
the  races  of  the  world  into  one  international  state,  such 
as  many  dream  about,  but  it  is  possible  to  draft  a  set  of 
international  laws  which  shall  be  interpreted  by  an  inter 
national  court  and  enforced  by  an  international  police 
power." 

That  such  an  end  is  desirable  all  will  agree,  that  indi 
cations  point  that  way  is  quite  certain.  The  mistake  of 


270  THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 

those  who  attack  nationality  is  made  in  supposing  that 
any  of  these  peoples  will  give  up  any  of  their  distinctive 
forms,  their  governments,  their  ideals,  their  religion, 
racial  pride,  or  character.  They  could  not  do  so  if  they 
would.  Those  things  which  reside  in  the  souls  of  people 
are  not  transferred  by  signatures  in  Hague  Conferences. 
When  the  twenty-one  republics  who  were  represented  in 
the  American  Institute  of  International  Law  agreed  upon 
and  signed  the  Declaration  of  the  Rights  and  Duties  of 
Nations,  they  chose  this  course,  the  federation  of  distinct 
units,  not  the  amalgamation  of  them.  That  choice  is  the 
most  recent  and  intelligent  international  action  of  the 
world. 

It  was  also  the  most  reasonable  and  natural  action.  In 
a  family  group,  good  parents  aim  to  develop  the  individ 
uality  of  each  child,  to  accentuate  its  special  aptitudes  and 
to  develop  differences,  not  to  make  all  children  alike  over 
a  common  pattern.  Those  families  are  greatest  and 
contribute  most,  one  member  to  another,  who  recognise 
that  no  two  members  in  it  are  alike  or  can  possibly  be 
made  alike,  and  that  every  effort  to  do  so  weakens  the 
individual  and  the  whole.  This  is  fundamental  in  the 
family  and  the  school.  It  is  just  as  fundamental  in  the 
community  of  nations.  National  personalities  are  sepa 
rated  by  mighty  abysses ;  they  never  have  in  common  rela 
tively  so  much  as  the  children  of  a  single  family  have  in 
common.  And  any  attempt  to  make  them  similar  will 
result  in  the  elimination  of  the  finest  elements  of  all,  and 
will  leave  the  baser  elements  of  physical  life,  which  al 
ways  persist  in  cross-breeding  where  type  is  destroyed  and 
life  reverts  to  originals. 

Those  demands  which  Japan  makes  from  sheer  ambi 
tion  for  social  position  among  nations  and  for  economic 
advantage;  her  fancied  hurts  and  insults  because  other 
nations  cannot  grant  these  demands  in  her  own  way  and 


BASES  OF  OPINION,  OLD  AND  NEW      271 

on  her  own  terms,  she  must  learn  to  forget.  The  United 
States  has  not  intended  any  offence  nor  withdrawn  from 
her  any  right  ever  conferred  upon  her.  We  have  tried 
again  and  again  to  assure  Japan  of  these  facts.  We  ask 
only  that  Japan  shall  consider  the  incidents  of  land  legis 
lation  as  closed,  and  that  we  wish  to  continue  our  friendly 
relations  as  before,  maintaining  the  status  quo. 

When  we  take  this  position,  we  do  not  assert  our 
superiority;  we  only  recognise  our  inherent  differences; 
those  differences  will  remain  until  time  and  mutual  inter 
course  change  the  whole  social  content  of  the  two  civilisa 
tions.  Should  such  a  time  come,  the  white  race  would 
still  have  the  question  to  decide  whether  or  not  it  will 
eliminate  its  colour  and  its  characteristics  by  hybridisation 
with  a  pigmented  race,  whose  dominant  reproductive 
powers  will  perpetuate  it  and  will  cause  the  white  race  to 
disappear. 

But  on  a  basis  of  mutual  respect  for  the  qualities  and 
interests  of  the  other,  the  two  nations  can  continue  to 
exchange  all  the  products  of  their  racial  geniuses,  and 
preserve  all  those  ideals  which  will  insure  the  salvation  of 
their  racial  souls. 


The  following  true  story  I  have  often  told  to  my  son : 
"Your  grandfather  commanded  a  Company  of  Ohio  In 
fantry  at  the  great  battle  of  Stone  River  or  Murphrees- 
boro  in  the  Civil  War.  On  the  second  day  of  that  battle 
his  Colonel  ordered  him  to  take  his  Company  and  the 
regimental  colours  to  a  position  on  the  farther  side  of  the 
river  to  meet  the  oncoming  enemy.  He  drew  his  sword 
and  gave  the  command.  I  myself  have  stood  upon  the 
very  spot  of  the  action.  They  descended  the  bank,  the 
colours  and  the  colourguard  were  advancing  on  his  right. 
They  broke  the  thin  ice,  waded  the  shallow  river,  climbed 


THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST 


the  farther  side,  ran  forward,  took  a  position  behind  «. 
stone  fence  and  immediately  went  into  action.  As  he  di 
so  he  saw  one  of  the  colour-guard  fall  dead  —  shot  in  th 
back.  He  turned  round.  He  saw  that  a  part  of  his  Com 
pany  had  failed  to  obey  the  order  and  were  firing  from  th 
other  side  of  the  River.  And  he  cried,  'Men,  if  yoi 
can't  follow  the  flag  for  God's  sake  don't  shoot.'  ' 

Fellow-countrymen  :  Three  centuries  ago  your  ancestor 
and  mine  crossed  the  sea  to  find  on  American  shores  ; 
land  where  their  ideals  might  live.  Here  a  nation  wa 
built,  here  civil  liberty  was  born,  here  independence  wa  • 
declared  and  won.  A  century  later  their  children's  chil 
dren  crossed  the  eastern  mountains  and  rivers  to  carr 
those  ideals  into  the  great  central  valleys  of  the  continent 
A  century  after  that  their  children's  children  with  equa 
hardihood  and  high  aim  crossed  wider  rivers,  highe 
mountains,  and  the  vast  desert  waste  to  extend  that  natioi 
to  the  Western  sea.  And  there  they  are  to-day  —  you 
former  neighbours  and  friends,  blood  of  your  blood,  fles. 
of  your  flesh,  —  the  Colour-guard  of  the  white  race  on  th 
Western  picket  line  of  the  nation  facing  the  oncoming  o 
the  Orient.  If  you  do  not  understand  our  call,  if  you  car 
not  follow  where  we  lead,  oh  men,  women  and  swee 
children  of  all  our  beautiful  states,  as  we  stand  in  de 
fence  of  that  nation  and  our  race  —  with  our  faces  to  th 
sea  —  for  God's  sake  don't  shoot. 


14  DAY  USE 

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